The Hunter Becomes The Hero — And An Alien Crossover May Be Teased — In Predator: Badlands Trailer

When director Dan Trachtenberg told Empire last year that his Prey follow-up, Predator: Badlands, would have a Yautjan hunter as its hero, it would be safe to say that the filmmaker had our curiosity piqued. Now, with the release of the eagerly anticipated first teaser trailer for the movie today, we can confirm that the man who revivified the iconic sci-fi franchise for a whole new generation has 100% got our attention with his Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi led latest foray into the world of the universe's ultimate hunter species. Check out the teaser trailer below and you'll see what we mean;

HO. LY. SHIT! A display of Yautjan skulls and armour. The introduction of a young new outcast Predator. Stunning shots of far-flung interstellar landscapes. A deep-dive into Yautjan training and rituals. An Android Elle Fanning. This teaser trailer may be far more teaser than trailer, but it's one heck of a tease nevertheless — and if you're an eagle-eyed sci-fi nerd, then there's something in particular that will certainly catch your eye. Freeze-frame the trailer at 26 seconds, where we get our first proper look at Elle Fanning's Thia, and tell us that's not a Weland-Yutani android we are seeing in front of us. Sure, such a thing has not been confirmed by Trachtenberg or anyone involved in Predator: Badlands, but remember when 20th Century Studios head honcho Steve Asbell said a new Alien and Predator crossover would "probably" happen? We most certainly do, that's all we're saying...

Now, while the teaser above doesn't show us a hell of a lot of what Trachtenberg's cooking up with his second Predator rodeo, the movie's official description offers some compelling illumination. Predator: Badlands "is set in the future on a remote planet, where a young Predator (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), outcast from his clan, finds an unlikely ally in Thia (Elle Fanning) and embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary."

Who that ultimate adversary may be is anybody's guess, and though we have our hearts set on a Xenomorph x Yautjan showdown someday in the future, we reckon it's a little soon for that just yet here. But even so, this looks like another boundary pushing entry in the Predator saga from Trachtenberg, who's also got another exciting Predator project, animated anthology movie Predator: Killer Of Killers, heading our way on 6 June. As for Badlands, we have every hope the latest live-action Predator joint is going to start treating us good when it arrives in cinemas and in IMAX on 7 November. *Sinister clicking noises intensify.*