Badlands’ Director Reveals How Sci-Fi Franchise Will Take Inspiration From the MCU

November 4, 2025

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The director of Predator: Badlands has revealed how the Marvel Cinematic Universe will inspire the future of the iconic sci-fi franchise. Dan Trachtenberg‘s first contribution to the Predator series was Prey, the 2022 prequel that saw the monstrous alien fight a courageous Comanche warrior in the early 1700s. It was a widely acclaimed relaunch of the series, which many had thought to be dead after 2018’s The Predator had a mixed reception. Now, with the release of his third entry in the franchise, Trachtenberg’s vision seems to be bigger than ever, and the director is comparing it to that of the wildly successful superhero universe known as the MCU.

Predator: Badlands lands in theaters this Friday, and Trachtenberg is currently staying busy with the promotion tour. Talking to Comic Book, he reveals that his outline for the Predator series is ambitious. The scale is yet to be determined, but the director teases his plan by comparing it to the Disney-owned MCU and its grand conclusion “where things collide”:

“In my mind, what made Avengers work was that it wasn’t the first MCU movie, and it wasn’t the second MCU movie. That we had spent time bonding with characters and their individual stories and making sure that those individual movies were cool and had interesting premises unto themselves. So if we were to ever do something where things collide, it would be after we’ve gotten to know and bonded with things in their own individual stories.”

Trachtenberg also addressed being called the “Kevin Feige” of the Predator franchise, a title he takes with much pride. Curiously, he mentions he’s made “a couple of good Predator movies” and hopes for a “third.” The question is, hasn’t he made three solid Predator movies already with Prey, Predator: Killer of Killers, and Predator: Badlands? His words:

“I take that as a compliment because I think Kevin Feige is a genius and what he created is unprecedented in the history of cinema. I’ve just made a couple of good Predator movies so far, and hoping for a third. So yeah, we’ll see how that turns out.”

Reigniting the ‘Predator’ Franchise With an Awesome Spin

Thia and Dek in Predator Badlands

20th Century Studios

The Predator franchise has been active since 1987, when John McTiernan delivered a gripping introduction to an iconic alien with megastar Arnold Schwarzenegger as the lead. However, things didn’t get better from there. Predator 2 did not receive great reviews, and the alien warrior took a break until 2010. Nimród Antal’s Predators successfully brought back the action of the original, but failed to live up to expectations, and 2018’s The Predator met a similar fate.

However, Trachtenberg took the formula and gave it its own spin — not once, not twice, but three times. Predator: Badlands is yet to be released, but the previews tease yet another fascinating twist in the Predator series. This time, the Predator itself isn’t all that bad, and he has teamed up with an android in order to fight another even mightier monster. It seems that the future of the Predator franchise lies in adding some spice to the formula and avoiding the mistakes of previous entries. And that’s something that Trachtenberg has proven himself talented at.