The exclusive footage of Predator: Badlands that premiered at CinemaCon 2025 has just been released to the public as the Predator: Badlands Teaser Trailer.
The teaser gives an exciting first look at the characters and setting of the film. Unlike previous installments to the Predator franchise, Predator: Badlands will be a sci-fi adventure story with the Predator as the protagonist, rather than a sci-fi horror with humans as its primary prey.
Here’s a breakdown of the Predator: Badlands teaser trailer.
Predator: Badlands Teaser Trailer Breakdown
Predator Ship Skull Display
The teaser opens with a harrowing display of several prey skulls, resembling the trophy room on the Mothership at the end of Predator 2. The skull and spine of the most common prey in the franchise, us, is mounted on the left panel. The dread settles in when comparing the size of our skull to the others in the boneyard, hinting at new alien threats to be introduced. The history of the Yautja on Earth goes back further than expected, as also from Earth is what appears to be a T. Rex skull on the right panel. Now that would be a summer blockbuster: Disney’s Predator: Jurassic World, starring Chris Pratt as the Predator and Jack Black as a velociraptor.
This scene has a major tease front-and-center that has fans speculating about future crossovers. Sharp-eyed fans noticed that the broad skull in the center resembles the aliens from Independence Day, another film produced by 20th Century Studios. Alien vs Predator was the first merging of two franchises, however due to continuity issues and retcons pushed through subsequent installments in the Alien and Prometheus franchises, there isn’t a clean timeline for all the movies to fit together. It’s yet to be seen if 20th Century Studios is taking the steps towards combining their alien-centered franchises into a cohesive cinematic universe.
The Alien Planet
We got a glimpse into the diversity of landscapes and biomes of the alien planet the story takes place on. Director Dan Trachtenberg revealed the planet’s name to be Kalisk, or “Death Planet”. Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), donning his armor and mask, kneels on a beach in front of massive jagged boulders. In the sky are 3 sources of light, which at first appear to be the planet’s suns. In another scene, we see Dek standing at the entrance to a cave. Behind him the 3 glowing orbs appear again, but this time one is very bright and outshines the other dimly light ones, suggesting these are 2 moons reflecting the light of a single star. I’d like to assume these aren’t stars because according toThe Three Body Problem, Dek would’ve been Yautja barbecue by now.
A hovering craft, presumably operated by Dek, kicks up dust as it speeds across a barren land towards the beach. A wide shot of the landscape reveals a flowing river, colossal jagged terrain, and thunderous black clouds echoing the cruelty of the land.
The danger of the planet is really emphasized by the consistent usage of sharp, pointy shapes in the design of its terrain both above and below ground. The color palette is a mix of shaded blues and browns for the dark and gloomy biomes, as well as vibrant natural colors for the forest-like portions, aligned with the exotic beauty of its filming location New Zealand.
The planet lives up to its nickname, the Badlands, as only the most competitive and ferocious organisms that can endure its chaotic environment will be able to endure it. Dek will have to both invoke his intelligence and flex his muscles to succeed in this harsh world.
Thia
Thia (Elle Fanning) is confirmed to be a synthetic as her eyes roll white to show the Weyland-Yutani logo, a corporation in the Alien franchise that manufactures synthetics. In the last 2 films, the synthetics Rook (Alien: Romulus, likeness of Ian Holm, voiced by Daniel Betts) and Walter (Alien: Covenant, Michael Fassbender), served as the antagonists. When Elle Fanning said her team up with the Predator is unprecedented, she may be referring to a synthetic and Yautja being allied and protagonists together. This dynamic sounds fresh as synthetics, although modeled after humans, acknowledge humans are their creators which gives them unique perspectives and personalities.
The leaked casting call revealed that Elle Fanning is playing a double role as twins Thia and Tessa. Thia, the synthetic, is featured in the teaser, while Tessa’s appearance and role in the story is yet to be determined. If the twins are identical including hairstyles and clothes, then one of Elle Fanning’s appearances in the teaser could be Tessa. It is notable that she speaks in English, so unless Dek has a translation device, she could be speaking to another human character, such as her twin sister.
Dek, as a rogue Yautja, and Thia, as a synthetic willing to help him given the Yautja’s hostility towards humans, may be able to find common ground as outcasts from their respective worlds. Alternatively, this story could go another direction with Dek asking the humans for help. In the teaser, we see Dek with his back turned, on his knees in an outpost as a large squadron of soldiers equipped with futuristic rifles carefully approach him. If this is from early in the story, Dek may enter an agreement with the humans, who assign Thia to accompany him. Or perhaps Dek is captured and held at the human outpost, and Thia takes it upon herself to save him, which better fits the synopsis from the leaked casting call that pits Thia and Tessa against each other.
Yautja Weapons and Technology
Dek takes an inventory of his tools, placing down a supply pack and his weapons, and sporting his Predator-standard wrist gauntlet. The supply pack most likely contains a medical kit as seen in past films. His melee weapons include a new glowing red sword and the classic retractable spear. Between the pack and sword are glossy, silver orbs, looking like metal oranges, which may be throwable weapons such as grenades or nets.
The iconic shoulder cannon is missing from his arsenal. In Prey, this was replaced with a ranged boltcaster, but nonetheless gave the Predator a ranged advantage, something Dek will lack on his hunt.
Future Humans
Since the story takes place on an alien planet set in the future, the human outposts on the planet and presence of synthetics indicate we’re in a space-faring era as seen in the Alien franchise. The rifles they carry glow blue and are speculated to be energy-based weapons. It seems like for the first time, we are not to be messed with and will put up a fight against our predators. This switch-up of the dynamic and alliance between Dek and Thia is a fresh take on the franchise Trachtenberg is trying.
Alien Life
The teaser showed off some hostile alien life, including spiked, gaseous buds and vicious, coiling vines, and a massive beast with claws and either feathers or fur.
Trachtenberg connected with the linguist who developed the Na’vi language for Avatar, and it appears he’s also taking inspiration from its biologically diverse world by giving Dek a plethora of foes from all domains of life to challenge his position at the top of the food chain..
Yautja
There’s a lot of Yautja in-fighting shown in the teaser, referring back to Dek’s primary conflict of being an outcast and proving himself to his clan. The teaser features an elder Yautja with white dreads appearing to cut the arm off another Yautja for reasons unknown. The Yautja have a merit-based social hierarchy, so perhaps this elder Yautja is enforcing punishment on a subordinate or rival clan member.
Dek is attacked by another Yautja, and one of them is seen falling to a subterranean abyss. Dek must have seriously disrespected his clan to incite this kind of response from them. Damn Dek, what did you do?
With Dek on a hunt to prove himself, the story will most likely take beats from Prey, in which the Feral Predator worked up the food chain from snake and wolf to bear and human. Pitting Dek against other Yautja will serve as a useful plot device to gauge his power level and establish a benchmark for his improvement over the course of the movie.
Dek
At the end of the teaser, Dek lets out a courageous battle cry, rivaling that of Dutch’s from Predator, to challenge a giant alien beast. Dek’s size and facial design conveys his youth and inexperience as a Yautja hunter.
This new face design humanizes Dek in a way unseen in the Predator franchise. Trachtenberg explained at CinemaCon that Dek’s facial expressions were very carefully crafted to add emotional depth to his performance. This scene exemplifies what he meant. When Dek sees the beast, he looks up at it, eyes widening and brows raising, a typical human reaction to being overwhelmed. Then he takes a breath to calm himself. Without a single word being uttered, and without a recognizable human face, we can tell his internal voice is screaming: “Holy s**t, here we go”. Then he seizes the moment, furrowing his brow in an adrenaline-filled rage, ready to fight for his life. If Trachtenberg’s goal was to give Dek an expressive face that parallels human emotions, I believe he’s achieved it.
Despite Trachtenberg’s fresh take on the Predator, initial reactions to the redesign of the face are split. Some, like myself, are open to and interested in seeing more of Trachtenberg’s vision. Others were surprised and disappointed to see a young Yautja instead of a mature, experienced, 8 feet tall, buff Predator like in the past movies. Dissatisfaction continues from some fans about the humanization of the Predator reducing its interstellar mystique and other-worldly qualities.
Nevertheless, the memes in the comments section are top tier.
Does Predator: Badlands look awesome?
Yes. Is it peak? Still waiting to see.
Predator: Badlands hits theaters on November 7, 2025.
SUPERWILD 