Just when you thought the Predator franchise couldn’t get weirder or wilder after Disney+’s Predator: Killer of Killers, along comes a leaked poster for Dan Trachtenberg’s Predator: Badlands, that has the internet whispering three surprising words: Alien vs Predator crossover.
Set for release on November 7, 2025, Predator: Badlands, which apparently is not a direct sequel to Prey, isn’t just another jungle hunt. The story moves the Yautja story into more sci-fi-heavy terrain, mixing Weyland-Yutani synthetic androids and futuristic weaponry.
Now, a new leaked poster making the rounds on social media shows Elle Fanning’s Thia, a Weyland-Yutani synthetic, being carried — well, half of her anyway — by a Predator in full battle armor, presumed to be Dek, the lead Yautja of the film. Her lower half is missing. Whether it was blown off or bitten off is anyone’s guess, but it’s the how and why she’s with Dek that’s raising eyebrows.
DUDE pic.twitter.com/9MYBWZDumP
— Dylan Emery (Happy Pride Month!) 🏳️🌈 (@timAcatsoftpaws) June 16, 2025
Fans have already noticed how much Thia resembles the classic synthetics from the Alien films. But this isn’t just a cool Easter egg. Her tactical armor, combat stance, and that Colonial Marines-style SMG suggest something deeper. The kind of deeper where Weyland-Yutani is knee-deep in experimenting with things they probably shouldn’t be again.
According to reports, Predator: Badlands’ working title was reportedly “Backpack,” which now makes a twisted kind of sense given the image of a Predator literally carrying Thia like one.
According to YouTuber Tachyon Pulse, who has a decent track record when it comes to leaks, “Dan Trachtenberg is working toward creating a universe that will spin off into Alien vs Predator.”
That statement hits differently when you realize both Trachtenberg’s Predator: Killer of Killers and Badlands are actively laying down that groundwork. In fact, Trachtenberg teased it himself: “Both Killer of Killers and Badlands make that universe SO MUCH bigger.”
And it’s not just Predator: Badlands doing the heavy lifting. Over on the Alien side, Fede Álvarez is continuing that franchise with Alien: Earth and Alien: Romulus. In Earth, there’s a hybrid synthetic named Wendy, fighting off species that may be tied to Engineer bio-weapons. What if Thia is part of the same experiment Wendy is cleaning up in Alien: Earth? What if Dek, the exiled Predator, has been sent to destroy one of these weaponized species? Or worse… contain it?
As Álvarez put it to Collider: “The best AvP will be the one that you don’t know is AvP until the other guy shows up… You think it’s a Predator movie, and then — f**king hell, it’s a Xenomorph.”
If that’s the plan, Predator: Badlands may be the best misdirect the franchise has ever pulled off.
RELATED: Did Predator: Killer of Killers Introduce the Most Terrifying Yautja Ever?
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