PREDATOR: BADLANDS Brings the ALIEN Universe Closer and Creative Team Teases Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Return
The hunt is back on, and this time it’s crossing into new territory. Predator: Badlands hits U.S. theaters this weekend, and director Dan Trachtenberg has confirmed that the film doesn’t just expand the Predator mythology, it also dives headfirst into the Alien universe in a fresh, unexpected way.
The film stars Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi as Dek and Elle Fanning as Thia, a damaged Weyland-Yutani synthetic. That corporate connection alone is enough to make fans of Ridley Scott’s Alien franchise sit up and take notice.
Speaking with Deadline, Trachtenberg explained how the crossover works without bringing actual Xenomorphs into the mix:
“I would say, Badlands itself is definitely a crossover in that we have the Weyland-Yutani corporation as a huge part of the movie.Elle Fanning plays a Weyland-Yutani synth.
“And I think, sometimes there’s a tendency for a ‘versus’ movie to be grabbing all the action figures and smashing them together, and I thought it was really cool to just take an element from one franchise and fuse it with this one. So yeah, they’re a huge part of the movie.”
That approach lets Badlands weave Alien DNA into the story while keeping its Predator identity intact. Producer Ben Rosenblatt expanded on that connection, calling Thia’s presence a “spiritual link” to the Alien films.
“[Trachtenberg] was like, ‘I would love to have humanoid characters without having humans,’ and he was like, ‘I think we need robots.’ And then, of course, Dan was like, ‘I know who makes robots: Weyland-Yutani.’ And then it was a natural collision of the two worlds.”
While the Alien crossover is a big talking point, there’s another question fans can’t stop asking, will Arnold Schwarzenegger ever return as Dutch?
Rosenblatt didn’t rule it out, and his comments might give fans reason to hope:
“Obviously, the holy grail of Predator movies would be getting Arnold back in there. And it’s always been something in the back of our minds that it would be really great to see him come back to this franchise that he’s made iconic, and that’s made him iconic.
“So, he’s been really wonderful. Arnold and Dan have met a couple of times now. He’s been really interested in what we’re doing, he’s a real fan of what we’ve done so far, from what I understand. And we’re really excited.
“After Predator: Badlands comes out, we’ll see and have more conversations. Hopefully, we’ll have a chance to do something with Arnold, because that would be awesome.”
It sounds like nothing is off the table for the future of this franchise. With Badlands blending the worlds of Predator and Alien, and with the possibility of Schwarzenegger returning to the jungle, the hunt for the ultimate sci-fi crossover might just be heating up.