When Dan Trachtenberg was first developing Prey, the Predator prequel that amassed a cult following in 2022 despite premiering straight to Hulu, he kept his cards close to his chest. When the film was first announced, it was under the title Skulls, and the reveal it was secretly part of the Predator franchise wouldn’t come until almost a year later.
Now, Trachtenberg is working on Predator: Badlands, which is at the very least upfront about being a Predator movie. But in the first trailer, there was an unexpected reveal: Elle Fanning’s character was revealed to be a synthetic created by Weyland-Yutani, the corporation from Predator’s sibling franchise, Alien. However, Badlands may not be the big Alien vs. Predator rematch fans might have been hoping for.
Trachtenberg recently told Empire that while there may be one element of the Alien franchise present, it’s not a full crossover. “There’s no Xenomorph in this movie,” he said. “But to me, that makes it more exciting.” The Xenomorph aliens had their moment in the spotlight only recently in Hulu original series Alien: Earth, so an absence won’t be especially glaring.
But if this Alien tie-in isn’t hinting at a giant crossover, is it just a bit of set dressing that could serve as an Easter Egg for Alien fans? According to Trachtenberg, it’s more than just franchise synergy. “We’re not involving [the Alien franchise] just to smush the action figures together. There are great, organic story reasons for Weyland-Yutani to be in this film.”
It seems like Alien: Badlands will thread the needle between a throwaway mention of Weyland-Yutani and a fully-fledged crossover with Alien, which opens the door to all kinds of questions as to how it will be incorporated. Will this shed some light on the organization in a way an Alien movie wouldn’t have room to?
Regardless, Trachtenberg just debunked the two hackiest explanations for this appearance, so whatever remains will at least be better than those. Unless he has some tricks up his sleeve, this will be a straightforward Predator movie but with a big Alien robot twist.
