So, Predator: Killer of Killers is not the throwaway anthology film we all thought it was. Surprise! The trailers sold us three separate little tales. Vikings, Samurai, and a WWII pilot facing off against Yautja warriors in different eras, right? It looked like a fun side quest. But as it turns out, Killer of Killers is a massive pivot for the franchise, potentially the most important Predator film since the original.
The first twist is that the three stories aren’t standalone at all. They’re chapters in one larger story. Ursa (the Viking), Kenji (the Samurai), and Torres (the WWII pilot) have something big in common: each of them managed to kill a Predator. And the Yautja are not pleased. Or maybe they are. It’s kind of hard to tell really.
The fourth act is Predator: Killer of Killers’ secret weapon. Suddenly, we’re yanked into a galactic prison transport, where the three warriors wake up with explosive collars strapped to their necks, Battle Royale-style. Their destination is an arena on a Yautja planet where they’re forced to fight to the death. Winner takes all. Or as the film’s title hints: the “Killer of Killers” is not a Predator, but the lone survivor of this interspecies deathmatch.
But here’s where Predator fans’ brains started short-circuiting: when the fighters are offered weapons for their final battle, Torres is handed a very familiar item: Raphael Adolini’s pistol. It’s the same one from Predator 2 (1990), handed to Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover) as a trophy. That pistol also appeared in Prey (2022), given to Naru (Amber Midthunder), which she used to kill a Predator.
Torres is confused. “This isn’t even from my time,” he says. The aliens don’t care. The gun is back, and its presence ties together all the Predator films across centuries.
Instead of fighting each other to the death, the trio does the logical thing and team up and decide to steal a spaceship. The only thing standing in their way is a massive Yautja Warlord.
They barely escape, but Ursa stays behind to hold off the Predator boss. The Warlord watches them flee, turns to his fellow hunters, and drops the mic: “Let’s go hunting.”
But just as you think it’s over, we get the post-credits scene.
Ursa is now in cryo-freeze, wheeled into a room filled with hundreds of other pods. Each one might be a human who survived a Predator encounter. And then we see her: Naru. Prey’s warrior queen, frozen and silent in her own chamber. The film lingers just long enough for you to expect her eyes to open. They don’t. But the message is pretty clear: she’s part of a much bigger story now.
It seems she was captured after the animated end scene in Prey. Does this mean Prey 2 is coming? Almost definitely. Are Killer of Killers and Predator: Badlands also linked? 100%.
With time and space now irrelevant, the door’s wide open for Kenji, Torres, Naru, Ursa, and who knows, maybe even Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Dutch, to collide in a fight against the Yautja.
Predator: Killer of Killers made the franchise incredibly exciting again.
RELATED: “What If a Predator Was Arnold?” — Killer of Killers Director Reveals The Film’s Unique Twist
Predator: Killer of Killers is currently streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
