Predator: Badlands Director Explains Distant Future Setting In Alien & Predator Timelines

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Director Dan Trachtenberg explains why his film, Predator: Badlands, takes place far into the future of both the Predator and Alien universes. The story centers around a Predator named Dek (played by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) and Thia (Elle Fanning), an artificial being with a troubled past created by the Weyland-Yutani corporation from the Alien films.

In a recent interview with Variety, creator David Trachtenberg discussed how he chose the timeline for Badlands, considering it features elements from both the Predator and Alien universes. He explained his priority was to avoid conflicting with other projects in development at the time, such as Alien: Romulus.

Trachtenberg explains that placing Dek and Thia’s story far into the future – even beyond the events of Alien: Resurrection – gave the film a unique identity. He felt prepared to create a story in a completely new time period, having already done so with Prey and Killer of Killers. You can read Trachtenberg’s full thoughts below.

We deliberately set the story far into the future for both the ‘Predator’ and ‘Alien’ franchises. While we were making the film, I wasn’t fully up-to-date on the plans for ‘Alien: Romulus’ or even ‘Alien: Earth,’ so I wanted to avoid interfering with those projects. I really wanted to focus on creating our own unique story, and personally, I’d explored ‘Predator’ in various time periods already, so I was thrilled to push this one even further into the future, beyond ‘Alien: Resurrection.’

The new Alien films are strategically placed within the franchise’s timeline. Alien: Earth is a prequel, occurring two years before the first Alien movie, and Alien: Romulus is a sequel, taking place 20 years after Ellen Ripley’s initial Xenomorph encounter. This positioning allows both Romulus and Earth to connect closely with the original film, while Badlands explores a completely different path, set far into the future.

Reviews for Predator: Badlands show that most people, including critics and general viewers, are enjoying its unique style. It currently has a “Certified Fresh” rating from critics and a 95% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating strong positive reception.

The movie Badlands has been a box office success, earning $40 million domestically during its opening weekend – the best start for any film in the Predator series. Globally, it brought in $80 million, exceeding the lifetime earnings of Predator 2 (1990), which made $54.8 million worldwide. Badlands is quickly approaching the worldwide total of the original Predator (1987), which earned $98.3 million.

The conclusion of Predator: Badlands hints at possible future stories with the characters Dek and Thia. While a sequel hasn’t been officially announced, the film’s strong opening weekend and good reviews suggest it could happen. This would give director Trachtenberg the opportunity to expand the Predator and Alien universes even further into the future.

I’m hearing good things about the potential for a second season of Alien: Earth, and there’s even talk of continuing the Romulus story. But don’t worry, fans of Prey – a sequel to Predator: Badlands is still very much on the cards! Director Trachtenberg smartly positioned Dek and Thia’s adventure within the existing Predator and Alien universes, which means those other projects won’t get in the way of seeing more from that world.

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2025-11-11 07:48