Predator Badlands Trailer, Fun Facts & Review
Predator Badlands Synopsis:
Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), a young Predator outcast who must defeat a powerful adversary to reclaim his honor. During his journey on a remote planet, Dek forms an unlikely alliance with a Weyland-Yutani android, Thia (Elle Fanning). Together, they face off against the planet's dangerous creatures, rival Predators, and a mysterious threat linked to the Weyland-Yutani Corporation.
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Thriller
Release Date: In theaters November 7th, 2025
Predator Badlands Fun Facts:
Standalone Installment:
Badlands is a standalone installment in the franchise, taking place on the Predators' home world and highlighting their culture and species.
Predator as Main Character:
This movie pioneers a new direction for the franchise by focusing on a Predator named Dek as the main character that viewers can connect with.
Predator Unique Language:
To enhance the experience and explore the culture of the Predators, a unified spoken and written language was developed for the movie. This language was created by the same linguist who created the Na'vi language for the movie Avatar.
A Familiar Corporation:
The fictional Weyland-Yutani Corporation from the Alien franchise is featured in the movie.
Practical and Digital Effects:
To create the appearance of young Predator Dek, a full-body creature suit was designed, and then Dek's face was digitally enhanced using motion capture technology to allow for more subtle emotional expression.
Filming Location:
The main filming started in New Zealand in late August 2024, under the working title "Backpack," and finished in late October.
Predator Badlands Review:
Coming off the successful movie Prey in 2022, director Dan Trachtenberg is starting a new chapter in the Predator franchise. This new film, Predator Badlands, feels huge in scope yet deeply personal. It takes a big risk by moving the story completely away from human characters. Instead, it follows Dek (played by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), a young warrior from the alien Predator race (called Yautja) who is an outcast. His ruthless father sees him as a "runt," and Dek embarks on a dangerous mission to the deadly planet Genna. His goal is to hunt the "unkillable" apex predator, called the Kalisk, hoping to desperately prove he is worthy.
The movie's best qualities are its fast pace, non-stop action, and its creative new world. The planet Genna is shown very clearly as a "death planet," filled with imaginative creatures and strange plants. These surroundings force Dek to think on his feet, often when he has lost his high-tech weapons. This focus on survival and organic combat takes viewers back to the original Predator film and Prey, even though this movie takes place in the future.
The movie Predator Badlands becomes truly touching when Dek crashes his ship and unexpectedly teams up with Thia (Elle Fanning), a synthetic from the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. Thia is separated from her body but is surprisingly cheerful and charming. Fanning also plays Thia's serious, militant twin sister, Tessa. Fanning's performance as Thia is wonderful and funny, because Thia often rides on Dek's back to move around. This alliance changes the film from a survival story into a strange, mismatched buddy adventure movie.
The movie makes a very noticeable change in its tone by swapping the intense horror the series is known for and focusing on a Predator (Yautja) we can sympathize with and a surprisingly charming android. The movie features high-octane action and a heartwarming message about the family you choose and ignoring harmful expectations from society. Dek learns to accept himself, and he uses what others see as his "weakness"—his ability to care for others (compassion)—as a strength, especially when he protects Thia and the adorable native creature, Bud.
This new way of telling the story successfully adds more depth to the Predator's history and turns a famous villain into a hero we can root for. However, in doing this, the movie loses some of the constant tension and fear that the series is known for. The massive confrontation involves a major action sequence between Dek and Tessa, who is piloting a giant robot suit (Power Loader mech). The action sequence looks great, but the danger doesn't feel as intense because most of the carnage involved are either aliens or synthetics without human characters suffering.
In the end, Predator Badlands is a really fun and exciting blockbuster movie that takes advantage of the franchise's background and uses it to tell a story about friendship and defiance. If you are ready to see the Predator story (Yautja) grow in new, bold, and surprisingly emotional ways, you will find this movie very worthwhile. It gives up a little bit of the old horror and fear for a whole lot of enjoyment.