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Predator: Badlands is flipping the franchise on its head with the hunter becoming the hunted, as the latest trailer teases more hostile alien wilderness. Directed by Dan Trachtenberg (Prey, 10 Cloverfield Lane), Badlands follows young outcast Predator Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) and synthetic ally Thia (Elle Fanning) on a remote world teeming with deadly wildlife as he searches for the ultimate adversary.

Badlands is scheduled for theatrical release on November 7, and will be the second Predator out of three possible films by Trachtenberg. Building on the stripped-down tension of Prey, Badlands appears to be a standalone sequel that promises brutal survival, interspecies alliances, and a deeper dive into the Predator’s code of honor from the other side of the hunt.

Now, a new trailer for Predator: Badlands has just dropped, showcasing the extended footage of the most intense upcoming sci-fi action movie yet. In it, the Predator faces off against a series of terrifying alien threats — including a flying winged beast, a slithering four-tentacled predator that attacks from treetop shadows, and the giant creature teased in the first official trailer. More details are available via our Predator: Badlands set visit report.

Check out the new trailer below:

The New Trailer Shows Predator Reimagined As A Survival Anti-Hero

This trailer only confirms what early buzz suggested: that Badlands is less a hunt than a survival saga, with the Predator positioned as an isolated warrior, stripped of its usual advantages. The change in perspective challenges everything we know about the species and reframes them not just as killers, but survivors.

In most iterations of the Predator franchise to date, the alien hunter is the antagonist, usually hunting a group of humans – be it Arnold Schwarzenegger and his team of marines in the jungle in 1987’s Predator, or a tribe of Commanche warriors, including Amber Midthunder’s Naru in 2022’s Prey. Though in Alien vs Predator, the Predators are definitely the lesser of two evils.

However, Predator: Badlands is definitely the first time that a Predator is the main character in a film, as Dek attempts to prove himself. It looks like he’ll have one heck of a time trying to do so.

Badlands Could Be The Bold Reinvention The Franchise Needs

Elle Fanning Thia and Dek in Predator Badlands

Predator: Badlands could be the most ambitious Predator film since the 1987 original. By reversing the narrative and making the Predator the hunted, Badlands introduces emotional stakes and vulnerability rarely seen in the franchise. If handled well, it may do for the Predator what Logan did for Wolverine, by effectively turning a feared and battle-worn icon into a layered anti-hero.

The alien ecosystem shown in the trailer looks stunning and brutal, blending survival horror with creature-feature spectacle. If Predator: Badlands sticks the landing, it might finally break the franchise’s cycle of diminishing returns and give Predator a true cinematic evolution. For the first time in decades, the hunter is interesting, not because of who it kills, but how it survives.