The Predator: Badlands Trailer Creatively Bends One Key Rule From The Alien Franchise

If fans were skeptical over just how much of the "Alien" franchise was going to crossover into "Predator: Badlands" in its first teaser, now they can be sure that Weyland-Yutani is going to be all over the upcoming sequel, thanks to the arrival of a brand new trailer. Revealing more of Elle Fanning's wise-cracking android that comes with a few loose wires, and an epic showdown between a very aggressive lifeform and a Powerloader at the end, one thing that might have caught the attention of die-hard fans of both franchises is the small squad of soldiers that our heroic (yep, you read that right) Predator is up against.

Around the 1:26 mark, the aforementioned army is seen wandering through what looks like a storage facility, most likely on the hunt for our young Yautja (confirmed as Dek and played by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), who's out for something to prove. What's interesting about this particular squad is that, thanks to a quick pause, we can see that these soldiers aren't even human and appear to be multiple models of the same android. This brief glimpse marks a first in "Alien" film history, given that no milk-blooded bot in that franchise has ever come initially armed and dangerous – but why would they? As Lance Henriksen's Bishop points out in "Aliens," "It is impossible for me to harm or, by omission of action, allow to be harmed, a human being." But of course, it's not a human that they're after now, is it?

Look, we know that when it comes to the "Predator" franchise, some of the best films have involved watching these alien hunters rip apart humans like pulled pork. Seeing them wave spines in the air like they just don't care is as essential to the beloved movie series as watching them laugh maniacally before rage-quitting their hunt in an extreme fashion. With that in mind, though, swapping out splashes of red for white, thanks to both the android Dek is paired with and the ones taking him on, could send "Badlands" into more creative territory.

It was confirmed a while back that Dan Trachtenberg's new chapter in the "Predator" universe would make Dek the hero, not the monster, of the movie. What better way to sell this concept than by having him more dehumanized than he already is as an alien lifeform and fighting for survival against an army of androids okay with taking him down? It establishes an interesting dynamic that could provide our Predator protagonist not just with wilder methods of neutralizing his opponents, but potentially having droves of them to fight his way through for whatever journey he finds himself on here. 

We'll see just how messy things get when "Predator: Badlands" arrives in theaters on November 7, 2025.