Predator Franchise Revives Legacy Characters, Inverts Roles

The Predator franchise is undergoing a creative revival, with the animated 'Predator: Killer of Killers' showcasing inventive action across historical eras and teasing the return of legacy characters like Naru from 'Prey' and possibly Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Dutch, both kept cryogenically as trophies by the Yautja. Director Dan Trachtenberg, known for revitalizing the series with 'Prey,' helms the upcoming 'Predator: Badlands,' which inverts the classic formula by making an outcast Predator the hunted. The film features diverse protagonists, including the android Thia and the Yautja Dek, and focuses on stories of survival and rising to challenges. Trachtenberg stresses that the shift to women and unconventional heroes is about exploring new narratives rather than deconstructing masculinity. The franchise’s move into animation allows for the return of characters regardless of the actors’ ages, further expanding the universe. 'Badlands' is written by Patrick Aison and produced by Trachtenberg, John Davis, Marc Toberoff, Ben Rosenblatt, and Brent O’Connor.