When the trailer for Predator: Badlands dropped, one detail in particular blew fans’ minds. It wasn’t the fact that the protagonist, this time, is t
When the trailer for Predator: Badlands dropped, one detail in particular blew fans’ minds. It wasn’t the fact that the protagonist, this time, is the Predator (or ‘Yautja’) itself, an underdog by the name of Dek. It wasn’t the wall of skulls that demanded an immediate pause and zoom. Nor was it the gigantic beastie seen pelting towards our hero in the final second. No, it was a brief shot of Elle Fanning’s character, seemingly held up in some kind of tree structure. For a split second, her eyes roll back, revealing a killer detail: a logo for Weyland-Yutani, the evil corporation from the Alien franchise. Naturally, it got tongues wagging that an ‘Alien vs. Predator’ rematch may already be underway.
In fact, Fanning plays two characters in Badlands – one yet to be revealed, and the other being Thia. Who, as the trailer reveals, is indeed a Weyland-Yutani android. According to Trachtenberg, it all came from one specific idea. “I always wanted no humans in this movie,” he explains, “so I thought it might be fun to have the Predator with a robot.” The opportunity to make a connection to Alien was too good to pass up. “Then I thought, ‘I know a company that makes robots…’”
Together, Dek and Thia will make for a “fun, mismatched pairing”, the director tells Empire. “One talkative, one laconic. As exciting and violent as this movie is, the character stuff really pops, too.” Who is Fanning’s other character? Will there be more Weyland-Yutani shenanigans in the full film? And could we even see Dek deck a Xenomorph? Place your bets now, people.
Read Empire’s full Predator: Badlands story in the Tron: Ares issue, on sale Thursday 3 July. Pre-order a copy online here. Predator: Badlands comes to UK cinemas from 7 November.
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