Comics - Predator: Badlands – A Bold New Era for the Franchise with a Marvel Comics Prelude

By Mulder, 03 october 2025

The Predator franchise, long associated with the terrifying cat-and-mouse hunts between humans and the Yautja, is about to step into uncharted territory with Predator: Badlands. Directed by Dan Trachtenberg, from a screenplay by Patrick Aison, the film promises not only a radical narrative shift but also a profound expansion of the Predator mythos. The movie, which stars Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, will hit theaters on November 7, 2025, distributed by 20th Century Studios. Just days later, Marvel Comics will release Predator: Badlands #1, a prequel comic written by Ethan Sacks with artwork by Elvin Ching, setting the stage for the cinematic adventure. For the first time, the spotlight is not on humans as prey but on a Predator—Dek—an exiled warrior struggling to redefine his identity and purpose.

What makes Predator: Badlands stand apart from the franchise’s long legacy is its choice to present the Predator not as the looming hunter in the shadows, but as the protagonist of his own story. Dek, portrayed by stunt performer Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, undergoes a journey that resonates more with classical hero arcs than with the silent menace fans recall from the 1987 original. Remarkably, Schuster-Koloamatangi fully learned the Predator language developed for the film, created by the same linguist who brought the Naʼvi tongue to life in Avatar. This careful attention to culture, paired with Studio Gillis’s practical creature suit and enhanced digital effects from Wētā Workshop, allows Dek to be more than a brutal hunter—he becomes a character with layered emotions and agency. In fact, every shot of the film reportedly required visual effects, with vendors including Industrial Light & Magic, Wētā FX, Rising Sun Pictures, Framestore, and more working under supervisors Olivier Dumont and Kathy Siegel to ensure the world-building matched the director’s ambitious vision.

Behind the camera, Predator: Badlands reunites Dan Trachtenberg with key collaborators from his acclaimed Prey (2022), including cinematographer Jeff Cutter and editor Stefan Grube. Trachtenberg himself has described the influences guiding this film as eclectic yet purposeful, blending the painterly energy of Frank Frazetta, the meditative touch of Terrence Malick, and the raw intensity of films like Shane, Mad Max 2, and The Book of Eli. There are even nods to the atmospheric weight of Clint Eastwood’s westerns and the haunting grandeur of the video game Shadow of the Colossus. These diverse references reveal a project aiming not just to rehash old formulae but to recast the Predator mythology as an epic tale of exile, survival, and confrontation.

Adding to the anticipation, Marvel Comics’ Predator: Badlands #1 offers readers the chance to glimpse Dek’s origins just before the events of the film. Written by Ethan Sacks, whose work on Star Wars comics has been lauded for its fidelity to cinematic tone, and illustrated by newcomer Elvin Ching, the one-shot is positioned as an essential companion to the film. It follows Dek’s first trial, a dangerous mission set by his father to retrieve technology from a long-abandoned spaceship—only to uncover an ancient and deadly threat. Ethan Sacks himself has admitted that writing this story as a lifelong fan of the franchise was akin to stepping into the hunt alongside the Yautja. With variant covers by Juan Ferreyra and CAFU, the comic mirrors the boldness of the film by letting fans explore Dek’s formative battles through splash pages and dynamic storytelling. Dan Trachtenberg, who penned the foreword, called it a dream come true to see Dek kicking off his journey not just in the film but also in the panels of a comic.

The production history of Predator: Badlands further cements its uniqueness within the franchise. Filmed in New Zealand under the working title Backpack, principal photography began in August 2024 and wrapped later that October. The project was shrouded in secrecy, but its ambition became clear as details emerged: a standalone story set on the Predator homeworld, fully developing their culture, rituals, and philosophy. This marks a rare instance of the expanded universe feeding directly into the cinematic canon, blurring the line between comic book storytelling and blockbuster filmmaking. Fans attending San Diego Comic-Con 2025 are expected to see this synergy firsthand, with the film confirmed for a Hall H presentation that will showcase exclusive footage and discussions with the creative team.

Music will also play a crucial role in heightening the mythic scope of Predator: Badlands, with none other than Hans Zimmer composing the score. His involvement suggests a sweeping, atmospheric soundscape, likely blending primal percussion with orchestral grandeur to reflect both the alien wilderness of the setting and the internal journey of Dek. Considering Zimmer’s past work on epics such as Gladiator and Dune, his score is poised to elevate the Predator franchise into new auditory terrain, ensuring that the film’s thematic ambitions are matched by its emotional resonance.

It is also worth noting that Predator: Badlands draws heavily from the legacy of Alien, with the presence of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation tying the events back into a broader shared universe. This detail, conceived originally by Dan O’Bannon for Alien (1979), is more than an Easter egg; it hints at deeper corporate entanglements and sets up potential narrative bridges for future films. In fact, Dan Trachtenberg has openly stated that Badlands is part of a planned trilogy, dependent on the film’s success, a declaration that only heightens the stakes for both fans and the studio.

Together, the film and its prequel comic establish Predator: Badlands as a daring pivot for a franchise once confined to formula. By making Dek the protagonist and immersing audiences in Predator culture, Dan Trachtenberg and Patrick Aison have crafted a story that seeks to resonate on both primal and philosophical levels. The Marvel Comics tie-in from Ethan Sacks and Elvin Ching ensures that fans enter the theater already invested in Dek’s trials, ready to follow him from the panels of ink to the grand scale of IMAX. Whether it will succeed in reimagining the Predator legacy remains to be seen, but one thing is certain—the hunt is no longer just about survival, it’s about legacy.

Predator: Badlands #1 (75960621390000111)
Written by Ethan Sacks
Art by Elvin Ching
Inks by Oren Junior
Cover by Juan Ferreyra
Variant Cover by CAFU (75960621390000131)
Movie Variant Cover (75960621390000121) 
On Sale November 12 2025

Synopsis : 
In the future, on a distant planet, a young Predator, exiled from his clan, finds an unlikely ally in Thia and embarks on a journey into hostile territory in search of the ultimate adversary.

Predator: Badlands
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg
Written by Patrick Aison
Story by Dan Trachtenberg, Patrick Aison
Based on Predator by Jim Thomas, John Thomas, Weyland-Yutani by Dan O'Bannon
Produced by John Davis, Dan Trachtenberg, Marc Toberoff, Ben Rosenblatt, Brent O'Connor
Starring  Elle Fanning, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi
Cinematography : Jeff Cutter
Edited by Stefan Grube
Music by Hans Zimmer
Production companies : Davis Entertainment, Lawrence Gordon Productions
Distributed by 20th Century Studios
Release date : November 5, 2025 (France), November 7, 2025 (United States)

(Source : press release)