I Told Predator: Badlands’ Director I’d Love To See The Dinosaur Fight From The Trophy Wall, And His Reaction Has Me Curious

One of the most intriguing franchise entries among the upcoming 2025 movies has to be Predator: Badlands. It will feature the Predator as the main character for the first time as he teams up with an android (played by Elle Fanning) in search of the “ultimate adversary.” In the trailers for Badlands, there’s a lot of hints at who Predators have come up against, but one that really caught my eye was the massive T-Rex head. So, when I spoke to director Dan Trachetenberg, I asked him about said dino skull.

If you haven’t been following the Predator: Badlands marketing, you might not have seen this image of a Predator trophy wall, which features all sorts of skulls from different species, including another Alien nod (aside from Elle Fanning’s Thea being from the franchise’s own Weyland-Yutani Corporation). When I brought up how I specifically want to see the dinosaur fight that brought back the biggest skull on the wall, here’s what Trachetenberg had to say:

Well that quote has me thinking! Of course, the writer/director is absolutely teasing here, and he offered no follow-up to what he’s talking about is quite “the trophy,” but it does signal that there will be some exciting kills in the movie that will perhaps rival my hopes for a Jurassic crossover of sorts.

During the interview, which took place at San Diego Comic-Con with a backdrop of the trophy room behind us (which was also used as an activation for fans to go through throughout the weekend), Fanning shared that she “can’t say” what her favorite trophy is in the movie. In other words, there’s a lot in the movie we don’t yet know about and the filmmakers and cast are hiding from us.

I don’t know about you, but it had me walking away from the interview racking my brain about what they are hiding. After Dan Trachetenberg’s last Predator movie, Killer of Killers, we were left with a lot of burning questions, such as how the filmmaker was connecting the animated movie with movies like Prey and the original Predator. Now, I’m wondering if things like the Alien easter eggs will mean something bigger is brewing between those two franchises, or if what he’s talking about will be completely out of left field from what I could even imagine.

When Predator: Badlands’ first teaser came out, there was a lot of negativity coming from fans about the upcoming release, but so far, I’m only getting more sold on the movie as I see more about it. I appreciate Trachetenberg for always trying something fresh with the franchise, starting with Prey, and I expect Badlands to be another solid entry. The movie comes out on November 7, so there’s plenty of time to theorize further until then.