Alongside the official release of Prey’s full trailer yesterday (which is currently trending at #3 on YouTube!) director Dan Trachtenberg and producer Jhane Myers spoke to several outlets regarding the film. With each new interview we’ve been learning more about the upcoming Predator film ahead of its August 5th release.
In this new interview with ComicBook.com, Trachtenberg spoke about Prey’s iteration of the Predator (which we now know was called the Feral Predator on set), and the inspiration behind some of the new extra-terrestrial gadgetry we saw in the latest trailer!
“I teased a while ago that I took inspiration from the latest God of War video game, and those two things are in the trailer. One is his shield, that you see briefly. And the other is not a Predator gadget, but just the way that Nadu, wields her axe, she invents something very cool for that Tomahawk. And that comes from a mechanic in that video game. I think the shield is something super cool. There’s a couple things that are the same, but even those things function slightly differently.”
While we haven’t had a clear look at Prey’s Feral Predator yet, it’s easy to see from the trailer that the design is following a very different aesthetic with the bone half-mask and very primal looking weaponry. And there may be more to this take on the Predator, with Trachtenberg likening the Feral Predator to a different breed of Predators.
“I think our Predator in my mind, not only does he exist, you know, 300 years before, but I think in sci-fi movie terms, time moves very slowly. If the way that Star Wars functions or even Star Trek, you know, it’s like 300 years. Ships aren’t suddenly like so different. But I think this guy’s perhaps from a different hemisphere of the planet and a little bit of a different breed. So even his look is a little new, it’s familiar, but new. So I’m excited for people, even for diehard fans, to really see something they hadn’t seen before.”
We also now know that performer Dane DiLiegro is the one inside the Feral Predator suit! Confirming Dane’s casting in the film, Dan Trachtenberg told ComicBook.com:
“We met him at the initial like costume (test). And he was who they found just as reference for that day. And then he came over and he was like ‘I would do anything to be in this movie.’ And it turned out, he really was like, one of the only people capable of pulling this off.”
Be sure to keep your targets set on Alien vs. Predator Galaxy for all the latest Prey news! You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube to get the latest on your social media walls. Be sure to join in with fellow Alien and Predator fans on our forums as well!
It definitely looks spookier in the dark
https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/prey-sfx-team-ratcheted-horror-200058637.html
https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/MnketWPx9J4Vn1i8qfW_CA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY1MDtjZj13ZWJw/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/o9.x0WfxibMBLjRD_7fn.g--~B/aD0xMzg3O3c9MjA0ODthcHBpZD15dGFjaHlvbg--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/indiewire_268/32c165683415061aa6df53c882f18f34
https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/5lrl2ByQ3M1Qy6L8QgnetQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MDtjZj13ZWJw/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/h5Bjkf1OVkndKmctCI__Tg--~B/aD0xMzY1O3c9MjA0ODthcHBpZD15dGFjaHlvbg--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/indiewire_268/ec5791f028213ff8da1d3e85c7a9154c
Is this confirmed?
It's what I guessed initially, but I was confused by how the neck looked fine in some shots and pretty bad in others. I assumed it was maybe just some angles being more flattering than others, but multiple suits makes sense.
Watched the film a second time tonight and the face has definitely grown on me. I don't love it, but it looks great in some of the practical shots in the final fight. The darker lighting may help it out too.
Love this so much.
Well I definitely appreciate the science jargon. I'm afraid I just can't be sold on the design.
https://twitter.com/MV_Creatures/status/1557067955166674944
From PREY concept artist Michael Vincent. Very interesting stuff!:
- Genetic isolation with different environmental pressures yields a variant of yautja... adapted to a drier climate... thinner, waxier dreads, thicker oral tissue, & scalier skin for moisture retention, favors crushing bite for different diet
- Breathes primarily through spiracles in the casque (not those 2 big cavities, those are heat sensitive "pits"!), an adaptation for a less jungly, less oxygenated atmosphere
- Thicker brow houses heat sensitive organs, which the mask is designed to interface with... thinner casque loses less water
- Bone has a special cultural significance to the Feral subspecies... not only their armor but as a diet staple... a careful look at the mouth reveals molars outfitted for osteophagy
- Heat-sensitive nodes under bone plates send the data to his network of heat sensing organs in the frill and compiles into a visual feed to his eyes - predator since the 1st film has lousy vision when unmasked, at least in our atmosphere
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FZvRDTfUIAA8gnP?format=jpg&name=large
That particular tweet I like, but some of the other ones that designer posted are very odd.
Like he's adapted to a less oxygenated environment, but doesn't have any sort of breathing apparatus on his mask? Wouldn't he need it more if that were the case?
Also seemingly saying that the mask somehow transmits thermal data directly to his "network of heat sensitive organs" which then translate that into something his eyes can see? But if that's the case, where is the Predator text and targeting reticle coming from?
Honestly some of them almost make me dislike that unmasked face more.
People have enought to be mad about as it is
love that the bone is culturally significant to this clan. Personally I think its a modified skull from another Feral Predator. I love that the artist seems to have though through all of the design choices and why they were made anatomically speaking.
I never realized that was supposed to be the origin of the sound... but it's so loud that it doesn't really seem believable to me that the super gentle little mandible touches are generating such a loud noise.
So I guess that would assume the dreadlocks are sensory organs making that comment about the dogs dreads from The Predator accurate. Weird, but at least there's some continuity.
But as to Jungle Hunter's eyesight, no. The POV has always been limited by the camera technology and productions of the time. There isn't an in-universe answer to the various POV, beyond an assumption for how Assassin's worked given it has its own HUD as if he was masked, which he was certainly not and is already a mutant. We can rightfully assume some manner of cybernetics given how far he deviated. Any modern recreation of Jungle Hunter's POV however would clean it up. Even City Hunter's would've corrected the masked vision mistake while he's aboard the ship. Or is that assuming the ship is really cold? Otherwise that statement is also suggesting they'd have to come from a place that's actually cold if we're being overly simplistic about the eye sight.
I'm just saying you can't really make that canonical given we've only seen it three times. Once in 87 where it's an effect from 1987, the mistake in Predator 2 (circa 1990), and in 2018 with Assassin's being a one off. It's like saying duct tape on a stormtrooper is canon. Yeah you're technically right, but a quick fix or mistake by the prop department shouldn't be gospel.
If we ever get another feral predator in one of the movies, I'd be perfectly ok with something like this, looks completely different and yet familiar, like the way they said it would look like initially in the movie.
The body, the mask, everything looks great about the feral, but the eyes and that part above the mouth are too much for me.
Superb improvement.
Damn this thing got long neck!
https://i.pinimg.com/474x/79/bc/53/79bc534fcd7aa97058c476617a823b9e.jpg
I'd be lying if I didn't want a more classic look, but the quality of the film trumped the face for me.
Totally understand the complaints though.
(Credit to the artist)
https://i.postimg.cc/zLHVVWng/5-A3-B5-BB9-8862-47-CE-950-E-C354-ADF53-EED.jpg
So we have:
- standard Predator (aka the best Predator design), with color and mandibles differences
- super predators
- ultimate predator
- feral predator
This Feral Predator design is plain stupid, his mandibles are non functional, face is ugly but doesn't have epic look like the first one.
And how many different Predators exist on one planet, from Earth's perspective this doesn't have any sense. Homo Sapiens evolutionary beat Neanthertals, so one Predator group would had advantage over others. Now, there are at least 3 different groups of Predators - standard, super and feral.
If Feral's Predator design was the original one, Predator would never become iconic creature.
Also, as a fans, we want to see being in which we fell in love, and that is original Predator. Why they need to reinvent the wheel every time ?
Personally. for me, this is not true Predator. Maybe now I understand why they called it Prey, instead Predator 5 or whatever.
I'm not disagreeing with you. I accept it as a Predator - I really like the masked/ exposed mandibles look. Yes, there's a few changes I'd make.
Regardless, we can still like most of the film and still say that the face design was bad.
I don't think they need any calling out. It's clear that Dan wanted something a little different from interviews. He asked them to push the design, and they did. It wouldn't solely fall the the FX guys. I don't think there's any explanation to be had that we haven't already heard in interviews. They wanted to break the design and bring it back to familiar. They broke it down a lot, but clearly did not have pull it back for enough people.
Being a lifelong Godzilla fan may have braced me for alternate Predator designs with how many suits and iterations the Big G has gone through in his almost 70 years. Sone good, some bad, some amazing, some horrible. Some too far removed, some right on point. I can admit there are many Godzilla suits I don't like, and some in movies I love. It all depends on the direction. Most of how you get to a final design comes down to direction from the director and what they want.
There's no way around it - it looks bad.
The film has rightfully been receiving a lot of praise and it's fully deserved. I really like it.
It's perfectly OK to like the film but still have negatives views about the face. It would be refreshing if someone (constructively) called out the guys who made the film and get an explanation.
He's got his own site and twitter/Instagram if you really want to hear his thoughts.
While he was very vocal, he wasn't always correct, but I'm sure most of us are aligned with him in not loving the face.
You should've taken on his mantle. I honestly don't think there's anyone more suited for it