While sitting down with Josh Horowitz for an episode of Happy Sad Confused, Predator: Badlands director Dan Trachtenberg discussed many topics surrounding the film, such as the core themes he’s interested in:
So, I’m always interested in in characters breaking cycles and dealing with the burden of where they’ve come from.
When asked if making a connection to the Alien films was suggested by the studio, Trachtenberg affirms that everything in this film is of his own doing, his own ideas. When future prospects for potential Alien versus Predator films came up, the director says that the longer he can go without putting an Alien into the film, the better, so that things can grow slowly and organically and that the audience has the chance to fall in love with one film at a time. He makes it clear that the point of the film isn’t just the gimmick of a setup for the future franchise crossover, but that instead he’s very intrigued with just using elements from the related Alien films.
The ending Trachtenberg reveals has gone through multiple changes until he found the right balance:
In the original CODA, the same kind of stuff happened but it was much more brief. It was much more Kurasawa. It was actually a lot like the ending of the samurai the sword chapter in Killer of Killers. It was a standoff. They charged each other, Deck and Father and then saw green blood dripping…
After test screenings, people were asking to see more of the Father Predator and guards which led to the final confrontation. Regarding the teased Mother, though:
(Thinking for Dek) …Get ready for whatever’s worse out there and then the thought of “oh I know what could be worse than dad”…
Trachtenberg explains how he has ideas on what to do with the concept and that he’s aware of the fan art and comic portrayals of female Yautja. He further confirms that James Cameron absolutely supported the ending and encouraged Trachtenberg to not back away from it.
When asked about his future directorial plans for potentially other franchises, he notes how he has more creative freedom to explore ideas in the Predator franchise than he maybe would in others:
So even though Predator is not my original thought, but what I’m doing with it, I get to really express myself as I want to be. And that may not be the case when I’m playing with other folks’ action figures, you know?
Amongst the most noteworthy Easter Eggs, the director has confirmed that not only is Naru from Prey present in the film, so is the “Back Biter” from the arena in Killer of Killers. For the full interview, check out the video below.
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That fits in well with Predators. I recall reading that the poisonous plant fron that is a prehistoric species from Earth as well.
There is also Dinosaur (looked like a Velociraptor) which confirms a long-held suspicion I've had that there are prehistoric Earth fauna and flora alive and well on other planets.
I missed them as well, but yep, that is exactly where they are.
Does she and the Back-biter appear on the holographic device that's showing different alien creatures?