Yesterday we got our first look at Dan Trachtenberg’s latest Predator offering. The director of 2022’s incredible and visceral Prey returns to the franchise in 2025 for both an animated movie and Predator: Badlands. One first glance Badlands looks like a much more traditional take than Prey. But eagle-eyed fans soon spotted the trailer is laced with a number of very pointed Easter eggs…
Littered throughout the Badlands trailer, which you can watch below, are references to Weyland-Yutani, the fictional megacorporation from the Alien franchise. Long-time fans will know this isn’t the first time that the Predators have crossed paths with Xenomorphs. The mash-up birthed two films, Alien vs. Predator in 2004 and sequel Alien vs. Predator: Requiem in 2007. Whilst neither film was well received by critics both made money at the box office proving there is an appetite for more.
Whilst we never glimpse a Xenomorph in the trailer the synopsis for Predator: Badlands teases that the young predator in the film “embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary”. Could the ultimate adversary prove to be the star of one of cinemas most beloved sci-fi-horror franchises?
We’ve trawled the trailer to pull all the references you may have missed:
A Synthetic Co-Lead
We’ve known for a little while that there was more to Elle Fanning’s character in the film than meets the eye. Appearing at CinemaCon earlier this month Fanning confirmed her character would be called Thia and that she would in fact be teaming up with the film’s hunter. An unprecedented role for what was first thought to be a human character in the Predator franchise.
But yesterday’s trailer immediately makes it clear that Thia is not human. Seen in several shots throughout the trailer, the first time we meet Thia she appears to be entwined and hanging from a toe-like structure. Within seconds Thia’s eyes change from human irises to a Weyland-Yutani logo confirming she is in fact a Synth from the world of Alien.
“Something unprecedented happens in this movie, and my character is not the one being chased,” Fanning told CinemaCon’s crowd. “My character actually teams up with the Predator, and you get to see him in a whole new light.”
Synths have been at the core of the Alien franchise through every film starting with Ian Holm’s Ash in 1979’s Alien. The role of synthetic characters was further explored through David (Michael Fassbender) in Prometheus and most recently Andy (David Jonsson) in 2024’s Alien: Romulus.
Could this be our first sign that the film’s Predator has travelled to the site of a Weyland-Yutani operation in order to track and kill a Xenomorph?
A Weyland-Yutani Expedition Site
We don’t know much about the setting of Predator: Badlands, its synopsis only teases a “remote planet” location. But across the trailer we do get a number of glimpses which certainly tee the film up to take place on a planet where Weyland-Yutani has setup operations.
After meeting Thia the trailer moves on to show a group of armed soldiers/mercenaries entering what appears to be some kind of facility. If you’re a fan of the Alien franchise then the yellow of the structures at the rear of the frame should be enough to give it away. But on closer inspection several of the structures are emblazoned with the Weyland-Yutani logo as seen below:
There’s a precedent in Alien films and comics for Weyland-Yutani sites to end up falling victim to Xenomorph attacks. It seems the company just won’t learn when it call it quits with their experimentation. What we need to decipher from these shots is whether a subplot in the film will find the Predator coming up against company forced whilst trying to track the so-called “ultimate adversary”.
Chaos Ensues
Whatever happens on this remote planet the trailer makes it clear that it doesn’t go well for Weyland-Yutani. The next time we glimpse the company logo it’s on the side of an upturned truck in the middle of a field of burning rubble.
We get to see the scene from several different angles showing that wherever this is the Weyland-Yutani crew has likely attempted to escape disaster and found themselves in the middle of some intergalactic chaos. Whilst the trailer does show Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi’s Predator fighting several alien creatures none are familiar as having appeared in other franchises. But whatever is happening it certainly seems like getting caught in the middle was a bad idea.
One has to wonder if those are the legs of some poor synths who were caught up in the battle. Or is the mercenaries from the earlier shots found themselves as a snack for whatever creature caused all of this destruction.
A Surprise Franchise Connections?
We couldn’t pick up on Easter eggs in the trailer without referring to its opening shot. At first it seems like an innocent set of trophies which the Predator has collected on their ship. On the far right is what appears to be a T-Rex. Whilst over on the left is a human skull still connect to its spinal cord. But it’s the skull in the centre of the frame which has us most intrigued. At first glance we wondered if this might be the skull of a Xenomorph Queen but a quick Google proved that to be incorrect. But somehow it still looked familiar and then it dawned on us… Independence Day…
The skull in question, which you can see a closer look at below next to a shot of a live version, looks very similar to a Harvester from the Independence Day franchise. Could Predator: Badlands be a franchise intersection bringing together some of the big screen’s deadliest alien foes?
The skull certainly bares similar hallmarks such as the extended forehead and larger eyes. The shape of the crown doesn’t quite line up but this could simply be down to production design creating a more menacing look for this Harvester. We also don’t know if there are sub-species which might have different shaped heads.
If this is confirmed to be a Harvester then this would be the first time that either the Alien or Predator franchises have crossed over with a third sci-fi franchise on film. It also opens the doors for a lot more possible crossovers. What’s next? Predators versus Ewoks?!
Predator: Badlands stars stars Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi. The film is directed by Dan Trachtenberg and produced by John Davis, Dan Trachtenberg, Marc Toberoff, Ben Rosenblatt, Brent O’Connor.
