A poster for Predator: Badlands released ahead of San Diego Comic-Con 2025 has revealed a first proper look at the new Predator’s armor and mask, what is perhaps an Aliens reference — and might even contain a spoiler for the film.
Warning! Potential spoilers for Predator: Badlands follow:
Predator: Badlands, from Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers director Dan Trachtenberg, revolves around a new Predator called Dek. Dek is described as an underdog Yautja “runt” in the protagonist role. Predator movies typically feature Yautja (the name given to the race of alien hunters) in antagonist roles. Dek selects his hunting ground, a “Death Planet” called Kalisk, and it’s here he fights to prove his worth to his father and for acceptance within his own clan.
Predator: Badlands is Dek’s story, but he’s not alone on Kalisk. He also works with a character called Thia, played by Elle Fanning, who as IGN has discussed very much looks like a synth from the Alien franchise.
The poster, reported on by the unofficial SDCC blog, reveals Dek armored up and carrying Fanning’s character on his back. Look closely and you can see that Fanning appears to have suffered significant damage of a kind that rekindles memories of the iconic scene in beloved 1986 action sequel Aliens where Lance Henriksen’s Bishop (also a synth) is torn in half by the xenomorph queen. In the poster, tendrils of synth innards appear to hang from Fanning’s torso, as they did from poor old Bishop all those years ago.
It’s beginning to look a lot like #SDCC! The first Gaslamp banners are up, and looks like we’re going to be hunting #PredatorBadlands this year (via @BigAhi): https://t.co/bCmGanFCse
— SDCC Unofficial Blog (@SD_Comic_Con) June 16, 2025
Fans have already established theories as to what this all means, and are pointing to comments Trachtenberg issued earlier this year that help make sense of it all.
Trachtenberg has said the on-screen relationship between Dek and Fanning’s character was inspired by 2005 PlayStation masterpiece Shadow of the Colossus.
“As inspired as I am by movies, I’ve been very inspired by video games [like] Shadow of the Colossus, where you have a protagonist paired with someone else who provides color and connection,” Trachtenberg explained.
“There’s a thing with a horse in Shadow of the Colossus that’s devastating when you play the game. And so [Predator: Badlands] was a little bit inspired by that in terms of wanting to see the Predator with someone else, this character who’s the opposite of him. He’s very laconic, [Fanning] is not. She’s capable in ways that he is not. Physically, she’s got a real thing that I’m so excited for you guys to see. But I want to let eventually some of that speak for itself.”
It looks like this poster has teased what Trachtenberg was saying here (“physically, she’s got a real thing that I’m so excited for you guys to see”). But as fans have already noted, there were hints at Fanning’s character suffering this injury in the debut Predator: Badlands trailer, where we see her crawling away from what may be a ship crash. Interestingly, we do not see Fanning below the waist in the trailer, either.
There are a number of other Alien references in the Predator: Badlands trailer, as well in the recently released animated film Predator: Killer of Killers, which had sparked speculation Trachtenberg is setting up Aliens vs. Predator 3. Trachtenberg was, as you’d expect, tight-lipped on those Alien connections and Fanning’s character’s nature. “There’s a unique hook to her character that is exciting in the pairing of [her and Dek],” Trachtenberg teased.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
