After experiencing tremendous success on Hulu with projects like Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers, the Predator franchise is gearing up for its big return to movie theaters. November sees the release of Predator: Badlands, which has sparked a lot of conversation due to its connections to the Alien franchise. Director Dan Trachtenberg has taken full advantage of the fact that both iconic sci-fi/horror properties exist in the same universe, as main character Thia (Elle Fanning) is a Weyland-Yutani synthetic. In an age of shared cinematic universes, fans can’t help but wonder how Predator: Badlands fits into the larger tapestry of the Alien and Predator timelines, but it sounds like it will be a fairly self-contained installment.
Speaking with IGN, Trachtenberg explained where Predator: Badlands fits in to the universe’s continuity. “There was a lot going on when we were making this movie. [Alien: Romulus] was not yet out, and I hadn’t seen it yet. And Alien: Earth, I was aware of happening but not sure where that was going to end up,” he said. “So we decided to set ourselves well into the future. So all the stuff that has happened would have happened before our movie … [and I’m] cognizant of how in this day and age, with all the media that we have, some of it can feel like homework. And you have to remind yourself where in a timeline does this sit between this movie and that movie. And I really did not want that to be the case with Badlands.”
Predator: Badlands Took a Simple Approach to Franchise Continuity (and It’s For the Best)
Image Courtesy of 20th Century Studios
Some fans may be disappointed to hear Badlands doesn’t connect narratively to other recent franchise installments, but it’s encouraging to hear Trachtenberg’s approach. For starters, it means his top priority when developing Badlands was to make an excellent moviegoing experience that stands on its own merits and is accessible to all interested viewers. In the past, Trachtenberg has said he wanted to avoid “smashing the action figures together” syndrome, and he took time to ensure the Alien connections felt organic to the story he was trying to tell. Badlands notably doesn’t feature any human characters, so it makes sense for there to be a Weyland-Yutani robot partnering up with a Yautja.
Predator: Badlands is also the first Predator movie to debut in theaters in seven years, so it needs to be able to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Unlike Prey and Killer of Killers, there will be a box office element to keep tabs on when examining whether or not Badlands is a success. With that in mind, it makes a lot of sense for Badlands to operate as a standalone movie that doesn’t require any dreaded homework to understand. It’s plausible that not everyone going to see Badlands on opening weekend will have seen Alien: Romulus or Alien: Earth, so it’s better to keep Badlands separated as opposed to running the risk of confusing general viewers. It’s been so long since the last Alien vs. Predator movie that some moviegoers may not even be aware the two properties are connected.
In addition to benefiting Predator: Badlands, Trachtenberg’s approach should also be great for other in-development projects in the Alien/Predator universe. A sequel to Alien: Romulus is currently being worked on, and Sigourney Weaver has had discussions about reprising Ellen Ripley again. The creative teams behind those films (or a second season of Alien: Earth) won’t have to worry about Predator: Badlands impacting the stories they want to tell, allowing them maximum freedom. While there’s still an overall continuity and lore to adhere to when working in franchise sandboxes, it can be refreshing to know you have the leeway to largely do your own thing instead of making sure everything lines up perfectly with another movie.
Shared universes provide plenty of exciting opportunities for character crossovers fans have only dreamed of before, but sometimes, filmmakers lose sight of the fact that it’s most important to make quality movies that work on their own merits. That’s how you develop a connection with the audience, which can open the door for bigger and better things down the line. If Predator: Badlands is a hit, then 20th Century Studios will surely be interested in a follow-up that can expand upon Trachtenberg’s ideas. There seems to be interest in a new kind of Alien vs. Predator film, so perhaps once audiences are slowly reintegrated into this shared universe, that can be the next event.
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