Prey: how did the Predator prequel revive the franchise?

I feel Prey is one of the best movies in the Predator franchise, and it pretty much saved the series. Prey (2022), starring Amber Midthunder and Dakota Beavers and directed by Dan Trachtenberg, was sent straight to Hulu because the film before it had gone so badly. It turned things around, and the franchise is back on the big screen.

In many ways it also helped save Alien: Romulus, which was also going to be dumped on Hulu and instead became a smash hit at the cinemas. Trachtenberg has since taken over the reins of the franchise, and he's no stranger to making the best movie in the middle of a series. He killed it with 10 Cloverfield Lane.

Prey Moved the Predator Out of the Modern Day

To me, what made Prey special is that it finally moved on from the same modern military environments. The ending of Predator 2 told us the Yautja had visited our planet for several centuries, and Alien vs. Predator expanded on that by showing them hunting xenomorphs in the time of the Aztecs. The comics went further, with the age of the pirates, the US Civil War and even the time of Jack the Ripper.

Trachtenberg felt the gun at the end of Predator 2 was a neat thing to explore, and Prey does somewhat decanonize the original comic. That gun debuted in Predator 1718 and belonged to the pirate Raphael Adolini. His crew mutinied, the Predator joined his side, and at his death he handed over the gun as a symbol of honor.

Fox Was Nervous About Prey for Years

The movie had been gestating since 2016, when Trachtenberg and writer Patrick Aison approached Fox while The Predator was in pre-production. Speaking with Collider, he mentioned hoping Prey would come out before 2018's The Predator. It wasn't meant to be. That film's extensive reshoots took a lot of effort, and people at the studio weren't excited to work on something else. They also had trepidations about a prequel. Trachtenberg compared it to Solo and said, "You can do this sort of prequel movie while also releasing a modern-day film." I somewhat agree, and Star Wars keeps jumping about its timeline and still produces good stuff from time to time.

He initially wanted to release a short about Naru: her life at the camp, then the bear scene ending on the reveal that this was a Predator movie. The studio was nervous about that too. I feel Fox had no idea what it wanted to do with the property. Shane Black was supposed to start his own trilogy, following a failed attempt at a quadrilogy continuing from the first two films, and Fox also wanted a Predators sequel, but everything got mothballed. Prey was something of an afterthought and, in a sense, a final swing at reviving the series, made less risky by a very limited budget.

Trachtenberg took inspiration from Billy in the 1987 original, and Naru's pouch is the one Billy has in that film. The original screenplay was about a Native American, and Trachtenberg wanted to give a full movie to someone like that character. I'd say he succeeded.

The Feral Predator's Skull Mask and Practical Suit

Having made several films in the franchise, Fox had built a strong relationship with effects studios, including ADI, who worked on both AVP films and The Predator. Alec Gillis founded ADI after Stan Winston, who was brought in to redesign the original Predator, scaled back his work, so it builds nicely off that. This feels like the biggest design departure yet. The director said the aim was a more primal creature, which is why it wears less armor than any other iteration, while its tech is still far better than anything humans had then.

What makes it stand out is the skull it wears instead of the metal biomask, a superb choice that makes it look even more menacing. Some fans have shared theories that it's the skull of a creature from 2010's Predators. Trachtenberg also wanted it to wear its trophies, which is mirrored when Big Beard wears an animal skin later. I like that, as it connects the movie's two enemies.

Production was shut down due to COVID, so the costume team collaborated over Zoom, with the suit makers' kids standing in for measurements. The mask had over 27 servo motors, smaller than those previously used. The first time I saw it, I thought a lot of it was CGI, and I was surprised the majority was practical. Behind the scenes material says this is the Feral Predator's first hunt on Earth. He seems to be a junior hunter who has picked the planet to prove his skills, which mirrors Naru trying to prove she's capable. The film was developed under the name Skulls, and the Predator connection was kept secret until Deadline unveiled it in November 2020.

Prey's Comanche Authenticity and Its Double Meaning Opening

A Comanche consultant was hired, nearly all of the stunt team and crew were of indigenous heritage, and Comanche writers looked over the script to make sure it avoided stereotypes. It was released with a Comanche dub on Hulu, with the cast dubbing over themselves, and that track fills in lines you might miss in English, such as the Predators being called cheaters. I think it works well even as an authentic Native American movie.

The opening line, that a long time ago a monster came here, has a few meanings. The monster could be the European settlers pushing her people off the land, or the Predator. I do wonder if Naru is looking back from the end of Killer of Killers. The French fur traders were the complete opposite of a tribe that saw the buffalo as sacred and used every part of the animal. The field of skinned buffalo is a red herring: we're supposed to assume the Predator did it, but it was the trappers.

Naru Fails Before She Wins

Naru wants to be a warrior but is overlooked because of her gender, which has a meta meaning since she's the first female lead in the franchise. When it was announced, there were comments calling it a girl boss film, so I like that she has to prove herself to the tribe and to the audience. Comanche women didn't explicitly go out to hunt, but they were trained as warriors, and some accounts say they were as fierce as the men.

Her dog Sarii is a Carolina dog, which is historically accurate. Two dogs, Coco and Tofu, were used, and Trachtenberg said he was inspired by Mad Max 2. The role was expanded when test audiences responded well. A running theme of stolen kills starts early, with her brother Taabe rushing in and taking her kill. Then her lion hunt ends with her falling from a tree, and her mother tells her Taabe carried her home before going back out to kill the lion himself.

I know this film gets dragged into the girl boss conversation, but I think moments like this completely dismantle that. Naru fails because she overestimates herself, and this hunt helps her learn from her mistakes.

Naru Walks Against the Tide as Prey Borrows From Assassin's Creed

Told to go and prepare the medicine, Naru defies her fate. While her brother gets a lie in and the other women head off to work, she walks the opposite way, against the tide, and into the wilderness. A fire burns on the horizon as she goes. I did wonder if it was her camp or the French, but it's a nice way to highlight the humans already living in this land.

The music makes this feel like a sweeping epic, and composer Sarah Schachner gives the scenes much more gravitas. Trachtenberg found her through games: she worked on Assassin's Creed Unity, Origins and Valhalla, and he wanted to hire her the moment he heard her Valhalla score. Knowing that, I can see a lot of that franchise mirrored in his films. The hunting scenes feel like Assassin's Creed 3, from the Predator running through the trees to Naru's axe jump at the end. Give this man the Assassin's Creed movie, because the last one was poor and we need a good one.

Games run all through his work. Predator: Badlands was inspired by Shadow of the Colossus, and the Unreal Engine idea behind Predator: Killer of Killers started here, when a deleted treetop running scene was mapped out in it. Trachtenberg made his name with a Portal fan film. His team studied the movement in Predator: Hunting Grounds to develop the Feral Predator, and apparently he played it every Friday. Naru's axe and shield were also inspired by the Leviathan axe and Guardian Shield from the God of War reboot.

Heat Vision, the Wolf Fight and the Feral Predator's Suit

Around the 30 minute mark we get the first heat vision shot, and it flips the formula. Dutch, the mercenaries and others were all being tracked, but Naru chooses to hunt the creature, so you could ask who the prey is. The production used proper thermal cameras, as the original did, and the vision here is very scaled back compared with the X-ray, UV and sound modes the Yautja get later.

The wolf standoff, shot wide, reminded me heavily of Hanzo's sword fight in Predators, my favorite scene, with the two staring each other down side on before leaping. I feel the actor who played Hanzo would also return in Killer of Killers for a very similar scene, taking down a predator with his brother, and I love that they keep carrying on this motif, which I do feel is intentional since Trachtenberg was behind both. Then comes the spine rip and roar. The suit weighed 80 pounds, the foam latex soaked up sweat and water, and even holding the pose was a strain, yet Dane DiLiegro did all of his own stunts.

The pair's journeys begin to mirror each other. Naru invents her rope axe, which has no real basis in history, and returns with four rabbits on her back, outdoing the wolf. She then finds bison skinned for their fur with the meat left behind, and says a prayer thanking the creator. A cigar trapped by a body points to the trappers. I wondered if it was also a nod to Dutch, who was introduced smoking one, though it might not be.

Naru's Broken Bow, the Bear and Why the Predator Ignores Her

Naru escapes the bog using her wits, which I see as another step on Joseph Campbell's hero's journey. A deleted scene foreshadowed her bow failing because it needed to be clean and dry, and it breaks when she finally fires. Later the pistol fails too. Trachtenberg told Inverse this was deliberate: Naru's strength lies in her cunning and using the environment, not brute force.

She's trapped at the dam as the Predator rips a bear apart, its blood revealing the creature. Sarah Schachner's work has got to be probably the best soundtrack since the original. The sequence was meant to be much larger, and the dam was a cost-saving measure. The warriors sent to fetch her don't believe her, and the Predator didn't kill her because, like her tribe, it doesn't see her as a threat. Typically they avoid harming women and children, though I think it's partly whatever the writer decides. Still, I do think there's a gender element there.

The Comanche Warriors' Fight and the Feral Predator's Design

Three laser dots appear, and instead of a plasma caster blast, a warrior is skewered by a wrist-mounted bolt gun. The plasma caster was left out because it was seen as an instant win button, which I agree with, and the concept artist said the bolt gun was meant as an early version. That makes Prey the first film without it.

The creature was designed to feel feline, with parkour movement, and I'm glad they used a performer in a suit rather than a fully CGI character. Its face was inspired by Jerusalem crickets. Trachtenberg suggested it may come from another hemisphere of the same planet, and the concept artist described adaptations to a drier climate and even an omnivore diet. It might be from the sandy locations in the Badlands trailer or the coliseum in Killer of Killers. The fight that follows, complete with a ripped-off arm, was the best part of the film for me, because we rarely see a Predator unleash on people like this. The long grass Naru hides in was grown specifically for the shoot.

Raphael's Pistol, Big Beard and Naru's Final Hunt

Raphael Adolini finally appears in live action, not as the comics' pirate but as a translator for the French trappers. He hands Naru the pistol in exchange for her saving him. The Predator ignores their bait and goes after the trappers instead, and ash disintegrates its cloak. Trachtenberg said no one has guessed the hand holding the dirt is CG. Their reloading against its shield is funny, and a ricocheting shot foreshadows the ending. Its floating explosive discs were intended as a homage to the original's nuke.

Taabe's death is the death of the mentor beat, coming after the French camp as the belly of the beast. Naru then uses the orange flower to hide in plain sight, with the bearded trapper as bait, and whistles to lure the Predator, which is usually avoided in Comanche culture at night. The showdown is one of my favorites in the franchise. Ripping off a mandible wasn't in the original script. I've seen people criticize a small woman beating a hulking beast, but like martial arts, it's about technique, and Trachtenberg was inspired by underdog sports movies. Trapped in the swamp, the Predator is killed by its own mask, which targets it instead of Naru.

She returns as a great hunter and hands over Raphael's pistol, the same one later given to Mike Harrigan. The credits, made with Native American artists to resemble hide paintings, show the Predators returning. Prey is a spectacular movie full of fan service that still works as a standalone, hitting 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, breaking Hulu's streaming hours record, and winning for sound editing. After it, the franchise was clearly in safe hands with Trachtenberg.