In the trailer, we see Elle Fanning\u2019s surprisingly chirpy Thia strike up an alliance with Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi\u2019s young Predator, outcast from his clan. We see Thia (at least, we think this is Thia), rebooted after what looks like a fight with some sort of monster. Thia is a Weyland-Yutani synth from the nefarious company\u2019s bio-weapons division<\/a>, and we later see her make mincemeat out of an alien foe.<\/p>\n The problem is, Thia has been cut in half, and must be carried by the Yautja as he seeks out what is described as “a creature that can\u2019t be killed” and “the definitive apex predator” (is it a xenomorph?!).<\/p>\n There\u2019s plenty of action here and, in the final shot, another Alien reference as a mech makes a dramatic entrance to fight a giant monster (Aliens Power Loader, anyone?). Thia teases this mech’s introduction by saying: “We might not be alone in this hunt.” Who is she talking about? Who is piloting the mech?<\/p>\n The new Predator is called Dek, an underdog Yautja \u201crunt\u201d in the protagonist role. Predator movies typically feature Yautja (the name given to the race of alien hunters) in antagonist roles. Dek selects his hunting ground, a \u201cDeath Planet\u201d called Kalisk, and it\u2019s here he fights to prove his worth to his father and for acceptance within his own clan. In the trailer we hear Dek speak, insisting he\u2019s not the prey here (it looks like he is, at least for a time).<\/p>\n Trachtenberg has said the on-screen relationship between Dek and Fanning\u2019s character was inspired by 2005 PlayStation masterpiece Shadow of the Colossus.<\/p>\n \u201cAs inspired as I am by movies, I\u2019ve been very inspired by video games [like] Shadow of the Colossus, where you have a protagonist paired with someone else who provides color and connection,\u201d Trachtenberg explained.<\/p>\n How to Watch the Predator Movies in Chronological Order \u201cThere\u2019s a thing with a horse in Shadow of the Colossus that\u2019s devastating when you play the game. And so [Predator: Badlands] was a little bit inspired by that in terms of wanting to see the Predator with someone else, this character who\u2019s the opposite of him. He\u2019s very laconic, [Fanning] is not. She\u2019s capable in ways that he is not. Physically, she\u2019s got a real thing that I\u2019m so excited for you guys to see. But I want to let eventually some of that speak for itself.\u201d<\/p>\n There are a number of other Alien references in the Predator: Badlands trailer, as well in the recently released animated film Predator: Killer of Killers<\/a>, which had sparked speculation Trachtenberg is setting up Aliens vs. Predator 3<\/a>. Trachtenberg was, as you\u2019d expect, tight-lipped on those Alien connections and Fanning\u2019s character\u2019s nature. \u201cThere\u2019s a unique hook to her character that is exciting in the pairing of [her and Dek],\u201d Trachtenberg teased.<\/p>\n Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Predator: Badlands\u2019 new trailer shows off much more of the movie, reveals even more connections to the Alien…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3935],"tags":[77,3943,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-280488","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-movies","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114892411196528797","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n