The first trailer for Predator: Badlands contains a big link to Weyland-Yutani from the Alien franchise – and it may have just confirmed one of the biggest Prey theories.
Badlands won’t be like any Predator movie we’ve seen before. It’s directed by Dan Trachtenberg, who helmed Prey in 2022, but it has one massive difference: this time, the yautja is the protagonist.
The new film will take place in the future on a remote planet, where a young Predator, “outcast from his clan, finds an unlikely ally in Thia (Elle Fanning) and embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary,” as per the official synopsis.
Fanning’s character has raised a lot of eyebrows: she appears to be an android made by the Weyland Corporation, and it could be paving the way for Alien vs Predator 3.
The Prey theory that connects Predator: Badlands to Alien
In Prey, a French fur tracker teaches Naru how to use a gun – and that gun is inscribed, “Raphael Adolini 1715.”
That’s the same flintlock pistol given to Danny Glover’s Lieutenant Harrigan in the throne room in Predator 2, awarded to him as a trophy after defeating one of the aliens. Notably, that room also featured a Xenomorph skull, an Easter egg that led to the first Alien vs Predator movie in 2004.
So, what if the throne room is the roadmap to the future of the Predator franchise – and possibly a revival of the AvP series? Each entry could chronicle how a yautja secured a skull or keepsake, and the franchise would eventually reach another face-off between the two titans.
There’s a brief shot in the Badlands trailer of different skulls, and one of them appears to belong to either one of the aliens from War of the Worlds or Independence Day. The latter blockbuster is owned by 20th Century Studios, which also has the rights to Alien and Predator, so that seems more likely.
In an earlier interview with Dexerto, Trachtenberg couldn’t say much about the throne room theory. “Hmm… interesting. Yeah, objects from the throne room… that’s very interesting,” he said.
The director also said another Alien vs Predator movie would be “far down the road.” That was three years ago, and Alien: Romulus director Fede Álvarez pitched the possibility of co-directing an AvP film with Trachtenberg.
In this case, if it happens, whoever wins, we win.
Predator: Badlands will hit cinemas on November 7, 2025. In the meantime, find out what’s going on with Alien: Romulus’ sequel, check out our ranking of the Alien movies, and keep tabs on the year’s releases with our 2025 movie calendar.
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