Predator: Badlands footage and Predator: Killer of Killers epilogue news revealed during Comic-Con panel
In February of 2024, it was announced that Prey director Dan Trachtenberg would become the first filmmaker to take the helm of two films in the Predator franchise, as he was moving ahead with a new Predator film titled Badlands, working from a screenplay by Prey screenwriter Patrick Aison (based on a story crafted by Trachtenberg himself). Then we found out that while Trachtenberg was making the live-action Predator: Badlands, he was also working on an animated anthology movie called Predator: Killer of Killers, which he wrote with Micho Robert Rutare and directed with Josh Wassung of the animation company The Third Floor. So he has actually made three Predator movies. Predator: Killer of Killers was released through the Hulu streaming service earlier this month and Predator: Badlands is aiming for a November 7, 2025 theatrical release. The film was promoted with a panel at San Diego Comic-Con today, and JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray was in attendance to take notes!
According to a casting call, Predator: Badlands had the following description: A groundbreaking film in which one of the two main storylines delves into the intricate bond of two very different sisters, their familial ties are put to the ultimate test as they pursue divergent paths and missions. We’ve previously heard that the story is set sometime in the future. The casting call was searching for a lead actress who could take on the dual role of twin sisters Thia and Tessa: This casting is for a dual character, and describes both characters. Character identifies as female or non-binary, open ethnicity, mid 20s – mid 40s. Thia has spent most of her life in a laboratory and is now embarking on her first big adventure in the world. She is incredibly smart, witty, enthusiastic, and unflappable. She has an innate disregard for danger, not because she’s fearless, but simply because she’s naive. Strong comedy chops required. // The other sister, Tessa, has a militant intensity when it comes to achieving her family’s goals and mission objectives. She will not let anything get in her way, not even her twin sister. These are the roles Elle Fanning is playing, and at least one of her characters (Thia) has the Weyland-Yutani logo printed on her eyeballs.
The official synopsis tells us the film is set in the future on a remote planet, where a young Predator, outcast from his clan, finds an unlikely ally in Thia (Fanning) and embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary. The film is produced by John Davis, Dan Trachtenberg, Marc Toberoff, Ben Rosenblatt, and Brent O’Connor. The lead Predator is played by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi.
Bumbray reports that the panel started off with a sizzle reel showing clips from the Predator films leading up to Badlands. A Predator came out on stage and started speaking Yautja. Kevin Smith then came out to moderate the panel and joked “I doesn’t speak Yautja, but pretty sure it was about the Epstein files.” Dan Trachtenberg, Elle Fanning, and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi then took the stage. Kevin Smith joked about how Dan Trachtenberg used to be a podcaster. He said Trachtenberg stopped making podcasts and started making good movies in 2007, while Smith, on the other hand, stopped making good movies start and started making good podcasts around the same time (ouch).
On making Badlands vs Prey 2, Trachtenberg said he didn’t want to just make “a cool sequel.” He wanted to do what had never been done – to tell a story that was never told.
The Predator in this movie may be the lead hero, but he is not a friendly monster. He’s an antihero. The reason Elle Fanning is strapped to his back (as seen in the latest trailer) was inspired by C3PO being strapped to the back of Chewbacca. What would it be like if C3PO was strapped to the back of a monster? Elle Fanning said there are no humans in this movie; she is a synthetic, but she says there is heart as a friendship grows. She plays two characters and switches up like halfway through the movie. Dimitrius, who plays Predator, speaks a language they made up for the movie. Fanning said she really was strapped to his back for much of the movie and praised the stunt team. She said it was a real first for her.
When asked about the Weyland-Yutani element of the film, Trachtenberg didn’t elaborate on it. He said it opens the franchise up to cool potential, but also said it’s not like he has a bunch of action figures he wants to smoosh together. He wants to do it with elegance. When Smith asked if that means he might make an Alien vs. Predator movie, Trachtenberg said that would be cool.
The movie is set on an alien planet where everything, even the grass, is trying to kill the Predator. Trachtenberg says he is the Dutch of this movie. Alex Gillis has worked on six Predator movies and designed the creatures. He says on the first movie he worked under Stan Winston and had six weeks. This is his third Trachtenberg movie (he designed the animated characters in Killer of Killers). He said the suit was practical, the face is done with CGI. Said usually the mandibles are operated by a technician off camera, but this time they needed to be able to evoke a personality. They worked with Weta on it. The CGI is based on Dimitrius’ performance and it’s made so his face comes through, like on other mo-cap performances, such as Andy Serkis. They considered animatronics, but Gillis says he was sold when he saw the last Planet of the Apes movie and realized what they could do.
The film was shot in New Zealand on real locations.
Attendees then got to watch the first 15 minutes of Predator: Badlands. Bumbray said it was “unfinished but sets up the premise. Dek is a young Predator whose brother initiates him into their clan. But first, he must choose a prey and capture it, or never return. He chooses an unkillable monster that is on a deadly planet the other Predators fear, basically to impress his father, who is a legendary warrior. The father actually wanted Dek killed because he’s small and missing a fang (which he lost saving his brother). His brother refuses – then some HEAVY spoiler stuff happens I won’t reveal but definitely sets him up as an underdog, anti hero, and not necessarily a friend of other Predators.”
During the panel it was also revealed that a new epilogue is being added to Predator: Killer of Killers on Hulu. It will be available to watch later tonight and serves as a post-credits scene. The Comic-Con audience got a look at the footage, which was set on the Predator homeworld and showed that they collected all the champions (in suspended animation), with the heroine from Prey, Danny Glover from Predator 2, and Arnold Schwarzenegger from Predator. Trachtenberg said Arnold approved the footage and “more is coming,” making Bumbray think maybe an animated movie is coming where the heroes of the other films exist on the homeworld.
Are you looking forward to Predator: Badlands and the Predator: Killer of Killers epilogue? Let us know by leaving a comment below. You can also see a video from the Predator activation at Comic-Con on TikTok at THIS LINK.
JoBlo’s Mike Conway and Chris Bumbray with Dan Trachtenberg and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi
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