According to a new report from Variety, we now have a release date for Dan Trachtenberg’s latest foray in the Predator universe and confirmation it will be seeing a theatrical release unlike the previous Prey! Variety reports that Marvel’s “Blade” has been removed from Disney’s 2025 release slate and in its place will be Predator: Badlands!
“In what comes as no surprise, Marvel Studios’ Bladewon’t be coming out on Nov. 7, 2025, rather Disney is opening 20th Century Studios’ Predator: Badlands.”
We still know very little about what’s in store for us with Predator: Badlands. According to a leaked casting call, we also know Predator: Badlands will feature two sisters, one of whom “has spent most of her life in a laboratory and is now embarking on her first big adventure in the world.” We also recently got a look at some shooting locations from the film, including a glimpse at the film’s Predator costume!
Thanks to Mudbutt for the heads up! Keep your browsers locked on Alien vs. Predator Galaxy for the latest Predator: Badlands news! You can follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube to get the latest on your social media walls. You can also join in with fellow Alien and Predator fans on our forums.
Sadly there was no pilot; it turns out it was all an urban myth; the animation produced where all of the screenshots come from was intended to be used in the TV commercials for the toys but never was; instead we got movie footage in the commercials; I believe Kenner *wanted* an animated series (and I believe it was pitched? Someone correct me if I'm wrong?) but Fox wasn't interested.😅
Cool to note; we nearly got an 'Alien III' Kenner toy range too (I was looking over some interesting concept sketches for unproduced toys) but they dropped the idea when the movie underperformed and continued using the 'Aliens' brand instead (it seemed to have a lot of pull; that's why all the Predator figures released in European territories still had 'Aliens' logo above Predator on the backing cards, and the later series simply envisioned as 'Hive Wars' became 'Aliens Hive Wars' :-)
That'd be immense!
Did any of that footage ever leak? I remember buying the toys as a kid and thinking WTF are these? Then when I got older I looked into it amd it looks like there are stills and a Korean company was used to create at least a pilot episode.
Would absolutely love to see that.
For animated? I actually wouldn't mind them doing the Kenner / 'Operation: Aliens'(vs Predator) take, but aimed at adults;
So it's own separate canon, the characters drawn like the Operation: Aliens characters, but in the early 'Spawn' comics style (so that bright coloured comic book style but written seriously/ with adult themes as opposed to the kids take we got in the Kenner figure comics) and of course it'd feature all of the best Kenner xeno / predator variants in their respective stories.
Assuming it's non-canonical, I'd love a straight re-hash of the AvP arcade game.
Lean into all the stuff which doesn't work in live action (namely the genetics) and have them clone anyone who's beat a Pred.
So Dutch was cloned from DNA in JH's fight with him or something. And they merge it with WY android tech and test the androids in battle scenarios against Xenos or something equally fun and outlandish.
So they have a WY Dutch they can replace and/or modify at will to go on hunting parties.
But they wind up using them/it to clear out nests as it has Dutch's battle prowess, Pred intel/mods/upgrades and WY android strength/durability.
I'd have the story something like a huge Xeno hive is beneath a WY settlement and there's something silly like a "Super Queen" and thousands of "Mega Xeno" eggs aboard a freighter due to leave the planet and it'd headed straight to Earth (because of course it is!)
So thus would serve to establish that the Preds have double the interest in this as they quite like hunting Xenos - but they also really like hunting Earthlings back on Earth! It'd allow them to be their usual violent selves - but would also cater to that little part of us all that wants to see them be the goodies too!
That all gives it the OTT, mega anime-style plot and then it becomes about the nice set-pieces you could have in an animation that just won't work on film.
So a scene to show the nest is so big that they do a Phantom Menace style shot where they show a load of different types of Dutch droids suspended in a lander of sorts and they start dropping them into the nest to clear it out. Classic Dutch. Hammerfist Dutch. Shoulder cannon Dutch. Sniper Dutch. Lightsaber Dutch etc. Then just have a f**king chaotic episode where this army of Dutches led by the Preds are obliterating the nest before they nuke it and the queen to bits (this would be where they found the Queen was aboard a ship or something).
But yeah - just go nuts with it.
Colonial Marines answer a distress signal of a trashed ship. Only to discover several Xenomorpha are loose. Eventually the predators reveal themselves and begin hunting the marines. Distress signal was a trap to see how they do against xenomorphs. From there it's a race to stay alive and get off the ship before the Predators or xenomorphs hunt them all down.
Hmmm...I don't know, could look bad and jarring if not executed well, but if done well and are mostly original stories...maybe it could be good. We'll just have to wait and see at this point.
That could be interesting
I certainly hope so.
Lmao
That sounds all fantastically wonderful actually
We already have one, it's just so bad it didn't get released.
Yeah you are right and I agree those are good examples that could potentially work. What I was referring to specifically is not so much the actual artistic or stylistic design or its approach but rather the excessive and/or exaggerated action we sometimes see with animation. E.G. The 30' jumps in the air, the unnecessary backflips and somersaults, the overblown extravagance of an 1 on 1 fight. The Predator films for the most part are a bit more grounded in realism and physics. So when I say unrelatable, that's what I'm referring to, it would be for me too different.
I also wanted to say that you hit the nail on the head with "capturing the weight, prowess, power, ferocity, and the savagery of the Predator." That sort of goes in tandem with what I was saying, I think as long as the physics and action doesn't get to overblown and uses what we saw in terms of action in the previous live action films it will feel relatable.
What would your ideal AVP story follow?
Like I got alot in my head like Netflix Castlevania, Yasuke, Cyberpunk 2077 Edgerunners, Gangsta, Devilman Crybaby, and a few others that can do well in capturing the weight, prowess, power, ferocity, and the savagery of the Predator. Hell, perhaps the animation can even look back at 80s-90s for influence like Ghost in a Shell or Cowboy Beepbop. The animation medium, especially in the anime side of things, is very diverse.
Yeah that all does make sense and I'm all for it. I'm confident the animation medium would work great, I just wouldn't want the animation, as it does sometimes to go too far and get too far over the top, accidently or purposefully separating itself from the films so much that it feels unrelatable or unrecognizable.
I agree 100%. It's why I've always been so eager to see Alien vs./Predator in an anime format. I've long thought one of Predator's biggest strengths is its flexibility - in terms of story and design - and I think that extends to the visual styles. And we've seen that in a bunch of the Dark Horse comics. I say bring it on.
Thanks for the response, so I absolutely agree the animated route gives a lot of space for artists and Dan T to tell a story in a new way exploring a new avenue while allowing for a different creative perspective on Predator story telling. As I said, either way I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun to watch.
That being said, I wanted to comment about my interpretation of the relation between an animated approach and the original films. First, I'm not saying the audience would be unable to relate to an animated film if it doesn't follow that grittiness and realistic sort of approach of the originals. What I was trying to say is that type of animated film which follows the formula of the original films imo grounds itself, sort of tethering itself to the greatness of the originals.
In doing so as an audience it makes it feel more relatable and imo targeted for more of an adult audience. When in animation, again in my opinion sometimes and often things get a little to over the top and I find myself a bit taken out of the maturity of the film. As an example of an animated film I think that was done right in terms of staying grounded, would be 'Batman Year One' which felt very raw, gritty and real, clearly targeting an adult audience.
I do want to say, everyone is entitled to their opinion and what they want to see out of all future Predator films. I have made it pretty clear on our forum here that I prefer the formula of the original films which made those movies so special and in my opinion, established what a Predator film is. I think the mentality and plan with new films should always be to ground itself in the formula of the originals while telling new stories and introducing new characters.
I wanted to finish my response by saying, just because 1987 Predator was so good and is re-watchable doesn't mean all new Predator films should be different just because we already have P1 and can always go back to watch it.
Not at all? The biggest draw, as NA said, is that animation allows the artist to go all into stylization, allowing all kinds of variables in storytelling. It allows for creative avenues that live action does not. It's like how The Lion King does not translate well into live action due to how much movement, characterization, color, and draw to the world is lost in "grounded" real life. All of their personality, life, and aura, all sanitized and beaten out of leaving only dull colors, lack of body language and facial expressions that help carry the story as the animated one did.
If I want to see live action, I will watch live action, and thankfully a new take on the Predator through animation will give it a life that is uniquely displayed that live action will never do. The audience has the ability to take notice and appreciate an artistic avenue. I don't think the whole shares your restrictive views and is rather...errr, telling in the bias that you think the audience can only relate to a realism approach, ignoring past successes of animated features. Not right to condense all the possibilities of the Predator to just AND only the first film. After all, we seen how films fail to capture the magic of the first in their respective series countless times, only to fail as nothing can top an original and best to be unique in their own right. Not only that but it would get awfully repetitive and dull really fast.
I get that you like the first film, but if I want to see a film like the first one, I'll just go see the first one lol.
Although I personally wish all content related to Predator could be made to be live action, I do think following the formula of that realistic approach in animation binds the relationship to the original live action films of the same suit which would make them both easily relatable to an audience through their shared commonality.
I'm very happy we're getting (EVEN MORE!!) new content. But I do have some concerns with the animated direction.
The one area I think it'd work is AvP, ironically.
I had an idea some time ago that they should go down the AvP arcade game route. The idea was that JH somehow scanned Dutch and/or his battle data or blood etc. and relayed to his homeworld. He was deemed a champion or what have you because he was the first to beat a Pred (this was pre-Prey) and they cloned him for training purposes and made some synths/androids (would explain the Robo-Dutch from the game) and they use it as part of a Xeno mission.
I think something like that would be better as it wouldn't be direct canon and dilute the franchises, but you could also get away with some brilliant, if not zany, moments in animationland!
I'm very curious of the artstyle, I wonder which studio is on the production of this/
Oh haha there you go, animated it is. thank you
True that's a very good point and promising at that.
Nothing specifically but I was hoping for something with some more substance. A video game announcement would have been nice or a tease for another live action Predator film in the works. Either way I'm happy to get more Predator content so I'm not complaining.
https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3837102/badlands-is-only-the-beginning-two-new-predator-movies-are-releasing-next-year/
Cheers and a big thank you to the AVP Galaxy staff for all the hard work you've done and continue to do over the years.
-LiquidMonster(who lurks more than posts)
Go check out what I posted in Predator Films
https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/index.php?topic=68182.0
What a year it's gonna be!!
You're right, they need to treat Badlands as an event film, just like they did with Romulus!
There's also Five Nights at Freddy's 2 who'll release at the beginning of December 2025, though I have no idea if this one is gonna be tough competition or not.
Yeah I agree it could be the new info is a leak itself or it could also be that there is a game in pre-development that we will get a teaser for. Similar to IO's Project 007 game teaser which took everyone by surprise.
Maybe the info is the leak. That a new game is in the works.
I don't think so mainly because, if this game is releasing next year, we'd know about it. Leaks are everywhere in gaming, surely someone would have picked up on it.
Even if it's just being announced next year, with a simple trailer, it still would have been leaked by now. There'd be no hiding that.
Yup that is true, but I'm talking specifically about some new information other than what we already have, new teases about that film or maybe something else.