In a conversation with ScreenRant, Dan Trachtenberg explains how Predator: Badlands has the perfect Stranger Things cameo. Releasing this weekend, Badlands is the first theatrical Predator movie from Trachtenberg, who previously worked on Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers. It features Elle Fanning in the lead role.
Trachtenberg has directed a number of other projects, including a TV episode of Prime Video’s The Boys, but he has not been involved in Stranger Things. The beloved Netflix sci-fi series has had four acclaimed seasons and will drop season 5 starting at the end of this month.
In a discussion moderated by Todd Gilchrist at ScreenRant‘s advanced screening of Predator: Badlands, Trachtenberg explains how the film has the perfect Stranger Things-related cameo. Trachtenberg revealed that the voice of Kwei’s (Michael Homick) ship is actually Matt and Ross Duffer, better known as Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers.
Trachtenberg explained that this came about because of a missed opportunity. In an alternate timeline, the Badlands director would have also helmed an episode of the final season of Stranger Things. He ended up facing schedule conflicts because of Badlands, so he instead “roped” the Duffer Brothers into a cameo. Check out the full quote below:
But there’s a cameo from the Duffer Brothers… as the voice of Kwei’s ship, the Yautja computer voice. They were mixing Stranger Things at the same time that we were mixing Badlands. I was supposed to do an episode of Stranger Things and couldn’t because of Badlands and Killers happening at the same time. So I roped them into, “It’ll be so fun. Just have you guys cameo.” “Oh, that’d be great,” and then handed them a piece of paper that had a bunch of Yautja words on it. They were freaking out. We had a lovely time. The whole point of the thing is we were futzing their voices so much and computerizing it and all that stuff that it worked out. But actually speaking Yautja, the real way, very hard. So, yeah, Dimitrius plays both Dek and Father vocally.
In terms of doing the cameo itself, Trachtenberg did not make it easy for the Duffer Brothers. Instead, he handed them “paper that had a bunch of Yautja words on it.” Despite this difficulty, it worked out because of how much Trachtenberg and his team were messing with these voices in the sound mix.
This also explains why Trachtenberg, a rising star as a science-fiction director, never stepped in for Stranger Things. He would have made sense as a pick, but he instead had to continue to build up the 21st century Predator universe.
Because of Stranger Things ending, Trachtenberg will unfortunately miss his opportunity to work on this Duffer Brothers project. That does not mean the Predator: Badlands creative will shy away from television, however. In 2021, it was announced that he would adapt a Waterworld TV show.
Trachtenberg has since revealed this year that Waterworld is not in active development, but the project has not been outright canceled. This is what could bring the director to TV sooner rather than later.
The Duffer Brothers will also be looking at new projects post-Stranger Things. They already have two Netflix shows lined up with The Boroughs and Something Very Bad is Going to Happen. As such, the Duffers and Trachtenberg could pair together in the future on something beyond this Predator: Badlands cameo.
Predator: Badlands
6/10
- Release Date
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November 5, 2025
- Runtime
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107 minutes
- Director
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Dan Trachtenberg
- Writers
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Dan Trachtenberg, Patrick Aison, John Thomas, Jim Thomas
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Elle Fanning
Thia / Tessa
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Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi
Dek / Father
