PREDATOR: BADLANDS Originally Featured Return of PREY's Naru and Director Teases “Avengers-Level” Endgame
As fans gear up for the release of Predator: Badlands, director Dan Trachtenberg is already opening up about how big his plans for the franchise truly are, and how close we came to seeing Amber Midthunder’s Prey heroine, Naru, make a comeback.
During a recent interview with ScreenTime, Trachtenberg revealed that his first concept for Badlands originally included Midthunder reprising her role as the fierce Comanche warrior.
“I did think about the pairing of [Amber Midthunder's Naru and Dek] before it was Thia. But then I thought, ‘Well, now then I'm not doing the premise.’
“And I really wanted to do the premise of the Predator as the protagonist, and no humans in the movie. And so it became further down the line we can do some cooler things, maybe [with Naru].”
That decision shifted the story’s focus, replacing Naru with Elle Fanning’s Weyland-Yutani synthetic, Thia, who now teams up with a young, exiled Predator named Dek, played by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi. The film is set on a remote planet in the future, where Dek and Thia embark on a dangerous mission to find the ultimate adversary.
While Badlands will stand on its own, it also seems to be setting the stage for something even bigger. The movie includes ties to Weyland-Yutani, hinting at a potential bridge toward a new Alien vs. Predator crossover.
Speaking with ComicBook, Trachtenberg teased his larger vision for where the franchise might go.
“In my mind, what made Avengers work was that it wasn’t the first MCU movie and it wasn’t the second MCU movie. That we had spent time bonding with characters and their individual stories and making sure that those individual movies were cool and had interesting premises unto themselves.
“So if we were to ever do something where things collide, it would be after we’ve gotten to know and bonded with things in their own individual stories.”
When asked about being labeled the “Kevin Feige” of the Predator series, Trachtenberg had a humble response.
“I take that as a compliment because I think Kevin Feige is a genius and what he created is unprecedented in the history of cinema. I’ve just made a couple of good Predator movies so far, and hoping for a third. We’ll see how that turns out.”
Considering how well Prey was received, and the growing anticipation for Badlands, it’s clear Trachtenberg has tapped into something exciting with this new phase of the franchise.
The director previously teased the return of both Naru and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Dutch in the animated Predator: Killer of Killers, so it’s safe to say he’s quietly assembling an Avengers-style lineup of hunters and heroes from across the saga.
Whether we eventually get that epic crossover will depend on how Badlands performs at the box office. Unlike Prey and Killer of Killers, which launched on Hulu, Badlands is a full-scale theatrical release, and early reports suggest it could be a hit.
Fans may want to keep their eyes peeled—because if Trachtenberg’s “Avengers-level” plans come to life, Badlands might just be the beginning of something huge for the Predator franchise.