The Predator: Badlands trailer has finally landed, and with it comes a really interesting reveal that sci-fi fans might want to rewind and freeze-frame.
Hidden in plain sight is a connection that ties directly into the Alien universe, and it’s not just some background prop or vague reference. It’s front and center, staring you in the face.
At one point in the trailer, Elle Fanning’s character, Thia, experiences what looks like a synthetic glitch and her eyes roll back, revealing a familiar insignia: the Weyland-Yutani Corporation logo.
The same shady megacorp that’s been dabbling in bio-weapons and messing with xenomorphs since Ridley Scott’s original Alien. The logo is identical to the one seen in Alien: Romulus on the character Andy, another synthetic who played a major supporting role.
This isn’t the first time the Alien and Predator franchises have shared cinematic DNA. Way back in 1990, Predator 2 teased fans with a xenomorph skull casually chilling in the Predator’s trophy room. That tease turned into reality with Alien vs. Predator and its sequel in the mid-2000s.
Those films weren’t exactly genre-defining classics, but the idea clearly hasn’t lost its appeal. Director Fede Álvarez has already pitched an Alien vs. Predator film co-directed by him and Dan Trachtenberg.
Álvarez previously shared: “The way I would do it, most likely, if it could be done this way… It’s harder to keep secrets online… The best AVP will be the one that you don’t know is AVP until the other guy shows up.
“You think you’re watching a Predator movie, and then they land in some place and there are creatures, and f–king hell, it’s a Xenomorph. That would get me. ‘F-ck yeah!’ You’d go crazy.”
The director goes on to say: “Or vice versa, you’re in an Alien movie, and then suddenly a mysterious creature is there, and you can hear that sound, and you see the cloak, and you go, ‘Is that a f–king Predator?’ And then turns out it is. That would be the way to do it, don’t you think? Once you put it in the title, it’s like, ‘Spoiler alert.’”
As for Predator: Badlands, the film drops in November and this time the director is flipping the script, instead of humans facing off against the iconic hunter, the story centers on a Predator outcast as the unlikely protagonist. It’s one of two Predator projects Trachtenberg is helming this year, the other being the animated Predator: Killer of Killers.
Now, back to Thia. Her synthetic status opens up a bunch of narrative possibilities. The film takes place on a remote planet, so maybe the company sends Thia there to research the world.
There’s also a chance Thia is more like Andy from Romulus, reprogrammed, empathetic, maybe even protective of the Predator she crosses paths with. Whatever the case, we are looking at an unlikely alliance between machine and aline hunter.
Or, maybe Thia is the company’s insurance policy, sent to ensure their interests are preserved, no matter the cost. We’ll eventually find out!
The synopsis for the film reads: “The newest entry in the ‘Predator’ franchise is set 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.”
Predator: Badlands opens in theaters on November 7.
