New Predator: Badlands Trailer Sparks Theories for How a Xenomorph May Make a Surprise Appearance to Turn It Into a Secret AVP Movie

Have you seen the new Predator: Badlands trailer? If you have — and you’re a fan of the Alien franchise — you might have noticed more than a few nods to the famous sci-fi horror franchise. But fans are now speculating that the trailer may suggest Predator: Badlands is more than a Predator movie with Alien references, and may actually be an AVP movie in disguise.

The trailer, below, shows Elle Fanning’s Thia strike up an alliance with Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi’s young Predator outcast, Dek. Thia, as previous trailers had already revealed, is a Weyland-Yutani synth from the nefarious company’s bio-weapons division. Weyland-Yutani is of course the famous mega corp from the Alien universe, and it seems it has some design — or at least presence — on this alien death world.

Here’s the interesting bit: in the trailer, Thia tells Dek that he’s the prey here, and warns him that he’s seeking out “a creature that can’t be killed” and “the definitive apex predator.” The way the trailer is cut suggests this is a reference to an enormous monster who looks like nothing we’ve seen in either the Predator or the Alien movies so far. But is this the monster Thia is actually talking about?

Some fans believe “the definitive apex Predator” in question is not the giant monster the trailer shows us, but in fact a Xenomorph, potentially even a Queen. “That has to be why Weyland is involved in a Predator movie at all,” redditor MakaylaAzula said. “The posters and trailers are showing this giant monster to fool us into thinking that’s the big bad.”

With this in mind, the final shot of the trailer, which shows a mech that may well be a Weyland-Yutani Power Loader make a dramatic entrance to fight the giant monster, could be something of a bait and switch. Thia teases this mech’s introduction by saying: “We might not be alone in this hunt.” Who is she talking about? Is it a Xenomorph? Who is piloting the mech?

Some fans now believe that a Xenomorph will turn up right at the end of Predator: Badlands for a final fight involving the Predator (and possible other Predators who fly in to help out), Thia, and that mech, thus setting up a future AVP movie that will join the two franchises at the hip once again.

There’s also the upcoming FX TV show Alien: Earth to think about here. Some fans think the iconic Predator clicking noise can be heard in one of the Alien: Earth trailers. Could a Predator turn up at the end of the series to save the day?

Let’s end on comments from Alien: Romulus director Fede Alvarez, who revealed to Collider in February how he’d introduce an AVP movie to audiences if he were given the chance.

“The way I would do it, most likely, if it could be done this way… It’s harder to keep secrets online… The best AVP will be the one that you don’t know is AVP until the other guy shows up,” he said.

“You think you’re watching a Predator movie, and then they land in some place and there are creatures, and fucking hell, it’s a Xenomorph. That would get me. ‘F*** yeah!’ You’d go crazy.

“Or vice versa, you’re in an Alien movie, and then suddenly a mysterious creature is there, and you can hear that sound, and you see the cloak, and you go, ‘Is that a f***ing Predator?’ And then turns out it is. That would be the way to do it, don’t you think? Once you put it in the title, it’s like, ‘Spoiler alert.’”

Interesting…

Predator: Badlands hits theaters in November.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.