{"id":464369,"date":"2026-02-12T14:49:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T14:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/464369\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T14:49:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T14:49:09","slug":"badlands-ad-with-severed-robo-body","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/464369\/","title":{"rendered":"Badlands’ Ad With Severed Robo-Body"},"content":{"rendered":"

What you see here is an image from the film Predator: Badlands<\/a>. It\u2019s of a Predator named Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), holding the top half of a synthetic being named Thia (Elle Fanning)<\/a>. It\u2019s from a film that is rated PG-13 in the U.S. and doesn\u2019t have one drop of human blood in it<\/a>. Now, does this image scare you? Does it offend you? Do you find it \u201cinappropriate\u201d or \u201cdisturbing?\u201d If the answer to any of those questions is \u201cyes,\u201d you\u2019re about to be very happy.<\/p>\n

Deadline<\/a> reports that Disney, which released the film Predator: Badlands, has been banned from running an ad for the film that includes an image of a severed body (the above image, we believe) because it\u2019s likely to \u201ccause fear or distress for young children.\u201d The Advertising Standards Authority, a United Kingdom-based organization, reportedly received two complaints (yes, two complaints) about the ad, saying it was \u201cinappropriate and disturbing\u201d for kids. In the UK, Badlands is rated \u201c12\u201d<\/a> for \u201cmoderate violence, threat, injury detail.\u201d So even younger than in the U.S.<\/p>\n

In response, Disney explained that the image was on screen for less than two seconds and does not show a human character, but rather a \u201csynth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ASA replied that \u201cWhilst we acknowledged [the studio\u2019s] comment that the smaller figure was not actually a human, but rather a \u2018synth\u2019 robot, we considered that was not clear from the ad, and that the figure was likely to be interpreted as a human. We further considered that the realistic depiction of the smaller figure\u2019s severed torso and exposed spine was gory and likely to be disturbing to younger children.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe acknowledge the ASA\u2019s ruling,\u201d a Disney spokesperson told Deadline. \u201cWe take our responsibilities to audiences very seriously and strive to work closely with partners to meet the required standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, at this point, it\u2019s not really a huge deal. Predator: Badlands is gone from theaters, and while it is currently promoting its home release, that rarely involves highly visible ad placements. Plus, even if it does, Disney can do so without using the \u201csevered body\u201d image. And while the ASA is correct that, if that image pops up and you know nothing about the movie, you are probably going to assume it\u2019s human, isn\u2019t this all a bit of an overreaction? Is the creature with giant, sharp teeth not even scarier? What about the massive killer monsters?<\/p>\n

Let us know if you think the severed body image is disturbing and inappropriate. And see much more disturbing and inappropriate things in Predator: Badlands, now on digital, available to stream on Hulu and Disney+ February 12 and on Blu-ray, 4K, and DVD February 17.<\/p>\n

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What you see here is an image from the film Predator: Badlands. It\u2019s of a Predator named Dek…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[3716,88,206,30544],"class_list":{"0":"post-464369","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-disney","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-movies","11":"tag-predator-badlands"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}