Some of history’s finest ideas seem obvious in hindsight: Add peanut butter to chocolate; create a global trade network to build a complex, lucrative system of mutual reliance that disincentivizes war; make a Predator movie in which the alien hunter is the hero instead of the villain.
Long relegated to “Predator extended universe,” the concept that fans have long pleaded for is finally becoming a reality: Predator: Badlands, as shown in this fresh trailer, will let audiences see a predator’s side of the story. Badlands is directed by Dan Trachtenberg, who previously directed the other standalone Predator film, Prey, along with the criminally underrated 10 Cloverfield Lane.
In the footage, a young outcast predator named Dek has been banished from his clan. Fortunately, a human-ish looking Elle Fanning appears to lend a hand. Together, they will try to slay something that “can’t be killed.”
20th Century plans to release the film in theaters and IMAX on Nov. 7, but series fans won’t have to wait so long for something new. Trachtenburg has been, alongside this film, putting together Predator: Killer of Killers, an adult animated anthology film set to release on Hulu on June 6. And for the real sickos, I have a bonus recommendation: Ander Monson’s Predator: A Memoir, a Movie, an Obsession, 146-pages of experimental non-fiction bliss.
