Predator: Badlands Has A Not-So-Secret Aliens Easter Egg
It’s power loader time!
Although Predator: Badlands is firmly focused on the legacy and machinations of the Yautja, the movie also exists within the canon of the Alien films. Both owned by 20th Century Studios, the worlds of Alien and Predator have been crossing over since 1989, with a series of comics published by Dark Horse. Then in 2004, Alien vs. Predator became a movie, which was followed by AvP: Requiem in 2007. Now, with the new film Badlands, the tradition of the Alien franchise crossing over with Predator continues: The film focuses on an unlikely team-up between a young Yautja named Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) and a damaged Weyland-Yutani android named Thia (Elle Fanning).
And so, the plot of Badlands is then a fusion of concepts from the world of Alien and the world of Predator. And in one scene, a famous moment from the 1986 film Aliens is homaged with panache and style.
Spoilers ahead.
Classic Weyland-Yutani Scheming
Elle Fanning as Thia in Predator: Badlands.
Although Badlands takes place in a future well beyond any of the previous Alien or Predator movies, the corrupt corporation Weyland-Yutani is very much up to its usual tricks. Back in the original Alien film, the secret robot Ash (Ian Holm) had orders to collect a sample xenomorph for study. In Aliens, Weyland-Yutani wants to secure xenomorphs for corporate gain. Basically, throughout the entire Alien franchise, Weyland-Yutani wants to snatch up alien life and figure out how to weaponize it, or harvest some specific biological feature to make money. This was even the case in the recent series Alien: Earth.
In Badlands, the Weyland-Yutani crashes on the planet of Genna while in search of the Kalisk. This is an alien with regenerative properties that the company wants to harvest, brutally, if necessary. This means that in addition to the Predators, there is one other major alien species in this movie. But, notably, there are no xenomorphs this time around. If you’re hoping that Predator: Badlands would set up the next AvP, you’ll have to wait until next time.
Power Loader Time
Ripley’s power loader returns in Badlands. Sort of.
Still, despite the xenomorphs being a no-show for Predator: Badlands, the movie does provide an echo from the Alien franchise in one very specific moment. In a crucial scene, Thia’s “sister” synth Tessa takes control of a power loader, complete with robot arms, which is very similar to the same tech that Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) used to fight the Alien Queen in the 1986 sequel Aliens.
Oddly enough, although there have been several new Alien movies since then, the power loader scene has never been directly homaged. In 2024’s Alien: Romulus, the android Andy (David Jonsson) delivered Ripley’s classic line from this scene: “Get away from her, you b*tch,” but he wasn’t using a power loader at the time.
So, with Badlands, director Dan Trachtenberg isn’t pulling much from the Alien franchise, other than the iconic robots. But he is tipping his hat to one of the greatest James Cameron action set pieces of all time.
