Is Predator: Badlands setting up a bigger alien vs. predator crossover? Here’s what we think

Dan Trachtenberg's upcoming film Predator: Badlands has raised immense anticipation and curiosity among the audience about whether, in this film, the worlds of the alien and the predators will collide or not.

In the freshly released trailer, we do witness that Elle Fanning's character, the humanoid robot Thia, is the brainchild of Weyland-Yutani. And the other protagonist in the film is a predator named Dek, portrayed by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi. So yes, we do see a reference to this crossover. But is that all?

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Dan Trachtenberg addressed the film as well as its Alien vs. Predator connection, by mentioning:

"It is exciting to have this movie be just a little toe-dip link between those franchises"

Let us find out more about Dan Trachtenberg's vision and thoughts about Predator: Badlands, and the whole Alien-Predator crossover possibility.

Predator: Badlands does have a link with the Alien franchise, if not a full-blown crossover

Whilst speaking with Entertainment Weekly, helmer Dan Trachtenberg talked in detail about his vision for making Predator: Badlands. His statements in the interview also answer the question many people have regarding the alleged crossover between aliens and predators.

In the interview, he explains that his core intent was not to merge both worlds in the film just for the sake of it. Trachtenberg is certainly open to the idea of the crossover. But for him, what was more important to him was what lies in its story, as he states:

"It's important to me — I am sure people anticipate a much bigger thing, and maybe other movies and other cinematic universes would be more aggressive — but I really didn't want to take all the action figures and smush them together. I really wanted to tell a cool story."

The story of Predator: Badlands focuses on an unforeseen friendship between a predator and a robot. It was a conscious choice for Trachtenberg to make Elle Fanning's Thia an android instead of a human. His reason was, if at all, that Thia were to be a human, people would easily be pulled into the human storyline. In his words, he feels people "would start to get tempted by that human and their story."

So when Trachtenberg decided to make Thia into an android, an idea dawned upon him. He remembered the Weyland-Yutani Corporation from the Alien franchise. So he linked that company to the storyline, and Thia became this robot who was brought into existence by the Weyland-Yutani Company. So that is how the Alien reference came into the picture.

Dan Trachtenberg further talks about the relationship between the robot Thia and the predator Dek in the film, as he mentions:

"They are a pretty interesting and bizarre pairing for each other, and that's a huge part of the fun of the movie is their chemistry."

So yes, there is evidently a tease of the Alien franchise in the upcoming Predator film. But that might be all. Just this preliminary reference to the franchise. It is not likely to go all neck-deep into coalescing both the franchises. The last two films that fused both these worlds were Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Alien vs. Predator: Requiem (2007).

However, the forthcoming film does not fall into the pressure of vehemently trying to bring both worlds together. Sure, it is certainly something that the audience could be anticipating. But what is more important is a good story. And going by what Trachtenberg explains, Predator: Badlands seems to be carving its own niche.

Predator: Badlands is releasing on November 7, 2025.