From Prey to Badlands
Dan Trachtenberg has established himself as the rare filmmaker who can take a long-running franchise, strip it back to its essentials, and find something genuinely new within it. His 2022 film Prey reinvigorated the Predator series by transplanting its alien hunter to the 18th-century Great Plains, pitting it against a young Comanche warrior in a stripped-down survival thriller that was widely praised as one of the best entries in the franchise's history. Now, with Predator: Badlands arriving on streaming platforms, Trachtenberg has sat down for a wide-ranging, spoiler-filled conversation about the sequel's many hidden layers.
The interview reveals a filmmaker deeply invested in the mythology he is building, one who carefully weighs every reference and callback against the story he wants to tell. Badlands, it turns out, went through significant evolution during its development, with several major franchise connections being added, reworked, and ultimately cut before the final version reached audiences.
The Dutch Hologram and the Alien Connection
Perhaps the most tantalizing revelation is that Arnold Schwarzenegger's iconic character Dutch, the Special Forces soldier who survived the original 1987 Predator, was originally featured much more prominently in Badlands. In the film's original draft, a holographic wall included a clearly visible image of Dutch alongside a flickering Xenomorph silhouette from the Alien franchise, nodding to the shared universe that both properties have inhabited since the Alien vs. Predator crossover films.
The scene originally featured an extended conversation and additional holograms in the background, including a reference to the concept of "Pick Your Planet" and other worldbuilding details that expanded the franchise's mythology. In the final cut, however, the scene was shortened significantly, with the holographic images reduced to the point where viewers could barely see them without knowing where to look.
Trachtenberg was characteristically deliberate about the inclusion, describing the Dutch homage as "incredibly intentional" and "the most intentional" element of the film. He explained that the concept of "He is Dutch" was essentially the starting point of his creative process, the first idea that crystallized before any other elements of the story took shape.
The Xenomorph That Almost Was
The deleted Xenomorph cameo has generated particular excitement among fans of both the Predator and Alien franchises. In the original script, the connection between the two properties was explicit, with the Xenomorph silhouette serving as a visual confirmation that the events of Badlands exist within the same universe as the Alien films. Removing the creature from the final cut was a practical decision rather than a creative one, with Trachtenberg and his team determining that the brief glimpse did not add enough to justify the distraction it might create for audiences unfamiliar with the shared universe backstory.
The backbiter creature from the animated film Predator: Killer of Killers also appeared in early drafts and temporary visual effects, further expanding the franchise connections that Trachtenberg explored before ultimately paring back. These decisions reflect a filmmaker who understands that restraint in deploying fan-service moments often serves the story better than indulgence.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch was originally featured more prominently in a holographic display scene that was significantly shortened in the final cut
- A Xenomorph silhouette from the Alien franchise was cut from the holographic wall sequence
- The backbiter creature from Predator: Killer of Killers appeared in early drafts and temporary VFX
- Prey's protagonist Naru was deliberately excluded to preserve story ideas for a potential separate film
- Trachtenberg describes the Dutch reference as "the most intentional" Easter egg in the entire film
Why Naru Stayed Home
One of the most discussed absences in Badlands is Naru, the Comanche warrior played by Amber Midthunder who was the heart of Prey. Many fans expected the character to appear in some capacity in the sequel, whether through a flashback, a holographic reference, or even a direct role in the story. Trachtenberg addressed this directly, explaining that Naru's absence from Badlands was not an oversight but a deliberate creative decision.
The director revealed that he has specific story ideas for Naru's return that he did not want to compromise by giving her a token appearance in Badlands. Rather than diluting the character's impact with a brief cameo or fan-service moment, Trachtenberg chose to save his ideas for Naru for a completely different film, one where her story could be given the attention it deserves. His reasoning was straightforward: "I didn't want to ruin her return."
This approach signals that Trachtenberg is thinking about the Predator franchise in terms of a broader narrative architecture, with multiple potential films exploring different corners of the mythology rather than a single linear sequel chain. It also suggests that a Naru-focused follow-up to Prey remains a possibility, though no official announcement has been made.
Building a Franchise With Care
What emerges from Trachtenberg's detailed discussion of his creative process is a portrait of a filmmaker who approaches franchise storytelling with unusual thoughtfulness. Where many directors of franchise films feel pressure to maximize connections and callbacks to previous entries, Trachtenberg consistently errs on the side of restraint, including references only when they serve the story he is telling rather than as hollow fan-service moments designed to generate social media excitement.
The process of adding and then removing franchise connections during development, from Dutch to the Xenomorph to the backbiter, illustrates the iterative nature of this approach. Each reference was explored for its narrative potential, and those that did not earn their place in the final story were excised without sentimentality. The result is a film that stands on its own terms while still rewarding attentive viewers with carefully placed nods to the franchise's history.
What Comes Next
As for whether Trachtenberg plans to continue his stewardship of the Predator franchise, the director has been characteristically coy. His comments about saving Naru for a separate film and his evident passion for the mythology suggest that he has more stories to tell in this universe. The commercial and critical success of both Prey and Badlands has certainly given him the leverage to pursue those stories if he chooses to do so.
For fans who have been dissecting Badlands frame by frame since its streaming release, Trachtenberg's revelations about deleted scenes and hidden Easter eggs add new layers of appreciation to a film that clearly has more going on beneath its surface than a single viewing reveals. The Predator franchise, long considered one of Hollywood's more uneven properties, appears to be in the hands of a filmmaker who genuinely cares about getting it right.
This article is based on reporting by Space.com. Read the original article.
