With Predator's Future In Limbo, Let's Talk About 4 Ways The Franchise Can Continue

For a long time, the Predator franchise lay dormant with the 1987 original being the height of its glory days like so many other movie series. However, in recent years, we’ve gone three for three for original, interesting Predator followups thanks to Dan Trachtenberg’s work on his Predator anthology consisting of Prey, Predator: Killer of Killers and Predator: Badlands. For the moment, there’s no other Predator movies officially on the way, but there’s a lot of ways forward we’ve been left thinking about.

We’re currently three months removed from Predator: Badlands’ release and I’m starting to wonder what could be next. Badlands made $184.6 million worldwide in theaters, which accounts for the highest-grossing movie from the franchise. But, because it allegedly cost $105 million to produce, it didn’t necessarily turn much of a profit. Though its streaming release just brought Hulu the biggest movie premiere ever, with close to nine million views within its first five days (per Deadline). While its future sits in limbo, what could be next? I have four ideas I want to talk out...

A Predator: Badlands Sequel

I think the most natural followup for the Predator movies is a direct sequel for Badlands. Trachtenberg recently told ScreenRant that he’s already floating around ideas, too, especially regarding how to introduce Dek’s mom after she turned up at the end of the movie. He wants to bring her into the fold in a way that’s a “little unexpected” and would “"avoid the tropes as much as possible." He also said a Badlands sequel would be "more intentional and focused on the cool of the Yautja culture". Clearly, the filmmaker is already rolling around Badlands sequel ideas, but it’s obviously early days.

While I love all of the recent Predator movies, I think Badlands is the movie I’m the most immediately interested in seeing a followup for. I’m interested in the “found family” storyline between Dek, Elle Fanning’s synthetic character Thia and Bud, and would love to see what happens with Dek’s mother. After its doing OK in theaters and then its amazing performance on Hulu, I honestly would be totally fine with a streaming sequel, but that’s just me.

A Killer Of Killers Followup

Over the summer, Trachtenberg and 20th Century Studios also put out a surprise animated Predator movie called Killer of Killers. I found this one to be super unique because it brought together three characters from throughout history: a viking, samurai, and U.S. fighter pilot. They are each captured by the predators and placed into suspended animation before being brought together to fight to the death. I thought it was going to be a standalone movie, but the ending left us with a lot of questions to ponder once they escape and then are captured again. And, of course I loved the Prey easter egg. Considering the end leaves us hanging, I could see there being a sequel (or crossover somehow) for this, too.

In an interview with Fangoria from last year, co-director John Wassung said he and Trachtenberg were “definitely talking” about a Killer of Killers sequel, also saying they would “love to explore what happens next.” I know I would love to learn more about how predators have played a part throughout human history and what else goes down regarding fights like these.

Prey 2

Then there’s the movie that really showed us what was possible for Predator: Prey. At this point, we know why another Prey movie hasn’t happened yet. Trachtenberg thought of three original ideas for Predator, and has been spending time making those rather than going right into a sequel. Last year, the writer/director made a good point that with sequels people often think about “What could happen next” but don’t stop to think “Should it happen next?” It sounds like he had a reason to make Killer of Killers and Badlands after Prey, but hasn’t found a reason for us to catch back up with Naru after she defeated that predator.

Now, Prey star Amber Midthunder has shown interest in returning for a Prey sequel, saying she’d “be happy to do another one” in 2025, but hadn’t heard about one. Dan Trachtenberg’s thoughts going forward can perhaps best summed up by these words to ScreenRant:

It should also be noted that Dan Trachtenberg recently signed a three-year deal with Paramount that could take him away from the Predator franchise for a time even though there’s riches of ways he could keep going. Perhaps, he’ll take a break for a time and then return with one or more of these sequels?

Another Alien vs. Predator Movie

In recent years, there’s also been some talk around town about another Alien vs. Predator movies considering both franchises have recently been revived recently under Disney. Badlands specifically decided to implement the world of Alien into its storyline in an organic way by having synthetics in the mix. Alien: Romulus director Féde Alvarez has shown his interest, for example.

Personally, I think this could be such a fun way to boost both the Alien and Predator franchises under Disney, and might actually be worth a really big theatrical movie after the original version of this movie came out over 20 years ago now. I love both these worlds and I would go see a remake or reimagining of this concept in a heartbeat and I know it’d be an easy sell for a ton of other sci-fi fans. Of course, I don’t want them to make it unless there’s a good story out there a filmmaker is passionate about, but give it to us!

Clearly, there’s a lot of avenues where Predator could return in the near future. We’ll keep you updated here on CinemaBlend as we learn more but for the time being you can enjoy all the recent Predator movies with a Hulu subscription. And, if we've learned anything from the past few entries, there's a lot of surprises this series can bring.