Badlands Director Almost Pitted Predator Against Nazis
Predator: Badlands almost sent the galaxy’s deadliest hunter to World War II to carve through Nazis — until director Dan Trachtenberg steered the concept into a bolder, character-driven tale that turns the creature into the hero of his own odyssey.
File this under: nearly a totally different Predator movie. Dan Trachtenberg says his follow-up is not the World War II monster romp it almost was, and the path to get there is surprisingly wild.
From Predator vs. Nazis to Predator as the lead
Talking to The Direct, Trachtenberg explained that the earliest pitch for what became 20th Century Studios' Predator: Badlands was a simple pivot:
"What if the Predator wins"
At first, he kicked around a World War II setup where the alien hunter tears through Nazis. But he didn't want to make a slasher where the slasher just wins at the end. The bigger swing was to flip the franchise perspective entirely: make the creature the main character, give him an arc, and send him on his own adventure.
Redesigning the Yautja without losing the alien of it all
When you decide the Predator is your protagonist, the design work gets tricky. Trachtenberg says some early passes went too far in reimagining the Yautja (that's the Predator species), drifting into looks that felt a little too medieval and too Earthbound. Enter costume designer Ngila Dickson — yes, the Oscar winner behind The Lord of the Rings — who helped recalibrate the creature. The final look leans more Spartan, with a rugged, Conan-style barbarian nomad vibe, while still reading as unmistakably Predator.
The humans (and not-quite-humans) around him
- Elle Fanning plays two Weyland-Yutani synthetics, Thia and Tessa. These models are more advanced and closer to human than the usual bots. Thia is built with empathy and individuality; Tessa is more clinical and science-minded. Fanning's take: it may be a story about a monster and a robot, but it's ultimately very human.
- Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi is Dek, the runt of his family on a redemption mission. He loves that the Predator is actually the underdog this time — which, yeah, is a pretty wild premise for this franchise.
So what is Predator: Badlands now?
It's not a WWII beatdown. It's the Predator front and center, with his own challenges and growth, surrounded by humans and synthetics who complicate things rather than just provide target practice. The concept sounds risky in the best way — and frankly, a smart zag after Prey.
Predator: Badlands hits theaters on Nov. 7, 2025.