Predator: Badlands (2025) takes place on an alien planet and has the Yautja as the hero!

For the first time since Robert Rodriguez's Predators in 2010, the next Predator film will not take place on Earth again, but on an undisclosed alien planet! During an interview with Predator: Badlands director Dan Trachtenberg and Empire Magazine, it was revealed the next stand alone Predator movie takes place in the future on a different world! Not only that - but for the first time ever, the Predator (Yautja) will act as the film's protagonist! Read on for more details...

“The creature is front and centre, leading the charge,” Trachtenberg grins, speaking to Empire in the Andor Season 2 issue. “He’s still badass, but there’s something there that touches you emotionally, too. Creating a character you connect with, but are also super-intimidated by, has been challenging. But exciting.” The idea, he says, came from a desire to “find another essential piece of cinema that does what Prey did spiritually — pushing the franchise’s boundaries, letting us root for a hero we rarely get to root for — but in a different way. And that transformed into this big idea of rooting for the Predator.” Finally, the ugly mother-effer’s day has come.

The only other time audiences felt compassion for the Predator was back in Predators when we witnessed a member of the more familiar Predator clan get tortured and killed by the gang of Super Predators - but yet even still that Predator was not given much screentime to form an emotional connection with the audience. It will be interesting to see how Trachtenberg shifts audience sentiment towards a character which has notoriously portrayed an antagonistic role.

Another big question this poses is - if the Predator is the film's protagonist in Badlands... who or what is the film's antagonist? Seeing as this film takes place on an alien planet, does this suggest we'll be introduced to a new enemy the Predator must aid the Humans in defeating? Was Fede Alvarez involved?! So many questions...

You can read more about Empire's Badlands coverage in their January 2025 issue, which you can pre-order now through their website!

Predator: Badlands arrives in theaters November 7th, 2025!