Predator: Badlands Director Promises the Boldest Shake-Up the Franchise Has Ever Seen

After Prey hit, everyone understandably started chanting for more Naru. Dan Trachtenberg heard that... and then swerved. Instead of Prey 2, he went and made a Predator movie where the Predator is the protagonist. Yes, really.

So what is Predator: Badlands?

• Setup: It jumps to the future on a remote planet and centers on Dek, a young Predator cast out by his own clan. He is played by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi.
• The human: Dek falls in with Thia (Elle Fanning), an unlikely ally who turns this into more of a two-hander than a lone-wolf survival story.
• The mission: Dek and Thia set off on a dangerous trek to find the ultimate adversary, because of course the Predator kid wants to prove himself.
• The vibe: Trachtenberg calls this one a relationship story that leans buddy-comedy. Prey was a stripped-down survival tale; Badlands is purposefully a different flavor.
• The angle: You are meant to root for the Predator. That is the point. Not only for this franchise, but for sci-fi in general, that is a swing.
• Extra credit: Marvel is releasing a one-shot prequel comic to set the table.

Trachtenberg told Empire he never wanted to just roll camera on a sequel because fans could imagine the next chapter. His take: just because you can map out what happens next doesn't mean you should. Prey worked because it was a big, clean idea that hadn't been done in this sandbox. He wanted the follow-up to feel like another fresh swing, not a retread.

"What if you were with the creature on this crazy mission to prove itself, seeing everything through its eyes?"

That POV shift is the north star here. Trachtenberg says he looks for ideas that could only happen in this movie, and making the Predator the one we travel with checks that box. It's also the kind of inside-baseball flip that will either thrill you or make you tilt your head, which is exactly why it's interesting.

What's next if Badlands hits?

After Prey, Trachtenberg actually had three projects in his pocket: the animated anthology Killer of Killers, Badlands, and a third concept he hasn't made yet. Killer of Killers already dropped and then teased even more with a new extended epilogue unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con this summer, basically begging for a sequel. If Badlands connects, he's ready to come back for more, and he's openly talking about other time periods and ideas they want to explore.

Predator: Badlands opens in theaters on November 7.