The Next Predator Movie Could Feature A Surprising Crossover
Prey was just the beginning.
The Predator saga is in the midst of a major revival, with a handful of projects coming out in quick succession. Following the success of the quasi-prequel Prey in 2022, director Dan Trachtenberg has been working hard to expand the already-sprawling franchise. Two new films are premiering in 2025, the animated anthology Predator: Killer of Killers and the live-action Predator: Badlands, which is set much farther in the future than Prey.
At first glance, these three films don’t share much connective tissue. Beyond the presence of Yautja, the bloodthirsty alien race hellbent on conquering Earth, Trachtenberg’s trilogy explores three completely different time periods and characters. That said, they’re far more connected than they seem, and the filmmaker has a plan to tie things all together with another film, so long as Badlands (the first Predator film to hit theaters since 2018) stokes interest for more.
“I had a bunch of big ideas when I finished Prey,” Trachtenberg recently told Fangoria. “I would love to get to all of them. There’s definitely a plan in mind, but the movie has to do well. So, we’ll see.”
Trachtenberg has plans to bring Prey’s Naru back in a future film.
Killer of Killers definitely brings that plan into its next stage, however subtly. The animated film introduces three protagonists from vastly disparate periods in history: a Viking from the 9th century, a samurai from feudal Japan, and a pilot fighting in World War II. They’re somehow transported to a planet where Predators hunt for sport, and though some of our heroes manage to escape, a credits scene reintroduces another familiar face in peril.
Naru, the Comanche warrior played by Amber Midthunder in Prey, is also trapped on this planet in suspended animation. There’s no telling how she was captured or if she’ll manage to escape, but those questions will likely be answered in the next film Trachtenberg has planned.
“The third story, which I can’t speak to yet, is what would happen with Naru,” the director told Fangoria.
There’s a question of whether Badlands will continue to bridge the gap between these stories. Maybe it’ll explain what year Killer of Killers is actually set in, paving the way for a third live-action film that connects its predecessors in earnest. Trachtenberg played coy with the finer details of his plans, but hopefully he’ll get the chance to enact them after Badlands.
