Predator: Badlands Easter eggs: how does it link to Alien?

Predator: Badlands (2025), starring Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, is the first Predator film told from the perspective of a Yautja, and it's full of hidden details and references to the earlier films, the comics and its sci-fi sister franchise, Alien. After reviving the series with 2022's Prey, Dan Trachtenberg knocked it out of the park by delivering two Predator films within six months, and Badlands takes massive swings to push the franchise in newer and bolder directions.

How Shadow of the Colossus and Yautja Lore Shaped Predator: Badlands

The film was announced as being in development in February 2024. Trachtenberg cited influences including Shane, The Book of Eli, Mad Max 2 and Conan the Destroyer. He's a big video game fan, and he said Shadow of the Colossus influenced it too. You can see that in a lone character seeking to take down a titan.

Trachtenberg was also fascinated by the creatures' culture, which hadn't been fully fleshed out on screen. While making Predator 2, the plan was to have sequels revealing Yautja culture, but that never got off the ground. The expanded lore has filled many gaps since. Shooting began in New Zealand on August 27, 2024, under the production name Backpack.

The Opening Crawl, the Codex and the Food Chain on Yautja Prime

The 20th Century logo fanfare ends with Yautja drums, a kind of close-out first started in Alien 3. The opening crawl reads "prey to none, friend to none, predator to all," echoing how Trachtenberg began Killer of Killers with a quote from the codex. The fuller codex is known only to Trachtenberg and the linguist Britton Watkins. The designations read 0422/25 here and 0522/74 in Killer of Killers. I'm not 100% sure, but I'd assume they mark a chapter or section followed by a page number, and it's possible they correspond to a date.

Dek speaks that line in the trailers, but it isn't in the final cut, and the VFX team had to reanimate his mandibles to match the new dialogue. The opening shot of Yautja Prime shows native creatures each eaten by something bigger, until the last is clipped by Dek's speeder. Prey had a similar food chain moment. Dek's clan lives in an isolated desert region, like the Feral Predator from Prey. I don't think that means they share a clan, but I do think it points to Dek's clan being one of the isolated ones.

Dek and Kwei's Fight Introduces a Fully Spoken Yautja Language

In a cave, Dek faces his brother Kwei, and their plasma swords are clearly based on lightsabers. We learn Dek is much smaller and has yet to complete a successful hunt. In the original drafts, Dek was going to be blind and use a specialized mask to see, playing off The Book of Eli, but Trachtenberg thought Dek being the runt would have a more emotional impact. Kwei tells him to use the cave to his advantage, foreshadowing how Dek later uses Genna's environment against the Kalisk and the sand against his father.

This is the first time we've seen two Predators hold a full conversation in their native language. Watkins created it; he's a close friend and protégé of Paul Frommer, the linguist behind Avatar's Na'vi language, so Frommer shouldn't get the credit. Watkins went over every Predator sound across the films and games, matched it to symbols and writing, and even considered whether the sounds were anatomically possible with Yautja mandibles. Schuster-Koloamatangi had to learn the language and speak it without using parts of his face that wouldn't appear on Dek, and he reportedly trained his vocal cords to produce the right syllables.

Why Njohrr's Arrival and Kwei's Death Make Dek an Underdog

In the trophy room we learn Dek once saved Kwei's life, losing part of a fang, which seemingly explains why Kwei looks after him. The skulls include a T. rex, a human and the alien from Independence Day. On the navigation system, the figure shown for Earth might just be a generic Native American, but I'm going to say it's Naru from Prey. Dek picks Genna, the death planet, home of the Kalisk that even their father fears.

Their father, Njohrr, arrives on a bike decked out in bones, and Schuster-Koloamatangi also did his voice and body double. Dek slices his hand in respect while Kwei doesn't, which shows Dek's desperation for approval, and I think it's also an act of defiance. Njohrr orders Kwei to kill Dek. Kwei instead sends Dek to Genna and is killed. I love this opening because it captures the fractured family dynamic driving the film. Trachtenberg knew making audiences empathize with a creature seen as a monster for almost 40 years would be hard, so the brothers keep their masks on until we know them. An animation supervisor on the film said, "It's about trying to create an emotional response with the audience and to make him something you could connect to."

Dek's Crash on Genna and the Duffer Brothers Cameo

The crash through Genna's asteroid belt is done in one shot, which reminds me of God of War II. The grief on Dek's face as he lands sold me on his look in the trailer, and it also convinced the VFX team this might work. I normally favor practical effects, but this is the perfect example of CGI enhancing a performance rather than replacing it. The ship's navigation voice comes from Stranger Things creators the Duffer brothers, a semi-apology after Trachtenberg dropped out of directing a season 5 episode.

Dek's first fight is against a living jungle, and I feel there's symbolism in that, since jungles are usually Predator hunting grounds. A giant worm on a mountain references the Rockbiter from The NeverEnding Story, and the name Genna is likely a nod to the biblical Gehenna, a place of divine punishment.

Thia, Tessa and the Alien: Romulus Connection

Dek meets Thia, a Weyland-Yutani research synth cut in half and stuck in a tree, which looks similar to Dutch in the roots in Predator. Her eyes roll back to reveal the Weyland-Yutani logo, a reference to the synth in Alien: Romulus. Trachtenberg watched an early cut of Romulus in New Zealand and thought the effect with Andy was so cool he decided to use it. Her sister Tessa is listed in the bioweapons division, the Kalisk is designated XX0552 against the xenomorph's XX121, and the computer Mother has been upgraded, showing how far into the future this is set.

Then there's Bud. Many fans see the creature as the franchise being Disneyfied, reusing the Mandalorian playbook, and I don't disagree. But Trachtenberg likened Bud to Rocket and Groot, explaining the cute appearance conceals his true nature, and decided this was what Dek needed on his journey.

Thia And Tessa Show How Different Elle Fanning's Synths Are

One quick moment shows how different the sisters already are. Tessa pulls vines from behind her head like John Wick and burns them down, while Thia has approached almost every creature with kindness. The other synths are all played by the same actor too, a nice bit of casting that plays into the replicant theme. After their hunt, Dek offers Thia food, a sign he's earned some respect for her. She declines because synths don't eat and suggests he share it with Bud, who spits on him. Thia explains it marks him as part of Bud's clan, which later saves his life when the Kalisk smells it on him.

That stings Dek, who has no clan. He tells Thia about his brother Kwei and how their father killed him for protecting Dek. As he names his father, we hear the classic Predator clicking sound often heard before a kill, and it recurs whenever he talks about the Kalisk. When Dek calls Tessa her sister, Thia says: "I guess she is. I have a sister. What a lovely thought." It's one of my favorite Thia moments, because it shows how she differs from earlier synths in the Alien franchise. She's programmed with emotions and forms real bonds, whereas most previous Weyland-Yutani synthetics see humans as disposable. Elle Fanning took inspiration from David Jonsson's performance as Andy in Alien: Romulus, saying it gave her the confidence to make her own mark.

The Wolf Speech May Nod To Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem

Meanwhile Tessa finds Dek's ship, the toy that matters later, and his arsenal. I'd never seen the freeze grenade before and thought it might be inspired by the one in the Arkham games, though it might not be. The next morning Dek reminds Thia she's a tool and that Yautja hunt alone, so they leave Bud behind. They stop at a waterfall, a type of location seen in both Predator and Predators. I thought this scene slowed the pacing down and could have been combined with the last one.

Thia tells Dek that the alpha wolf isn't the one who kills most but the one who best protects the pack, and he repeats the word wolf. I wondered if this was a nod to Wolf from Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, who was also missing a mandible like Dek. Badlands takes place long after Requiem, so I don't think it means they share a clan. A later shot of the pair crossing Genna echoes Naru's walk in Prey, and it reminded me of the Fellowship leaving Rivendell. Both were shot in New Zealand, and I swear it's the same location, though I can't confirm it.

The Kalisk Doesn't Bleed, And That's The Point

At the wrecked Weyland-Yutani site, which the Kalisk seems to have turned into a den, Thia finds her legs and reveals she has given Tessa their location. She used Dek to get back to her sister, another betrayal by someone he trusted. According to the notes, the Kalisk's look was inspired by Studio Ghibli creatures, the colossi of Shadow of the Colossus and deep sea creatures. It isn't the same monster we saw in Killer of Killers, though they look similar.

The Kalisk heals and regrows limbs, even pulling its head back on. When Dek cuts off its head and tail, it spills no blood, which is a callback by Trachtenberg to the original's line: "If it bleeds, we can kill it." Thia joins in with an M41A pulse rifle, and while these are advanced versions, they used the same sound effect from the earlier films.

Tessa Echoes Dek's Father

Captured, Dek meets Tessa, whose voice is altered to sound slightly more robotic. Fanning explained that Thia is open to the world, while Tessa is guarded and methodical. Of Thia she said: "She's very spunky. She's very positive. She almost has this comedic edge and that's very new and fresh for this franchise." I feel one of Tessa's eyes being locked in its robotic state symbolizes that she's not as human. Thia pleads that "We can be more than what they ask of us," but Tessa says Mother gave them emotions to exploit other creatures, and that protecting Thia almost cost her everything. Like Dek's father, she declares: "The weak must be culled."

The toy Tessa found turns out to explode a synth's head, showing how Dek once saved his brother. Dek escapes down a waterfall, like Dutch in the original. The base bears the slogan Building Better Worlds, first seen in Aliens, where I always loved that it was in quotation marks, adding sarcasm. I don't know why they dropped the quotes here.

Dek Builds His Pack

In his wrecked ship, Dek uses a first aid gun that looks like an advanced version of the one the feral predator used in Prey. Finding Kwei's helmet, he remembers the alpha wolves and realizes caring for others is a strength. His weapon gathering montage parallels Dutch and Naru preparing for their final battles. He finds Bud sitting in the Kalisk's footprint and realizes Bud is its child, a clue planted when Bud first chased a bone bison, the Kalisk's favorite food. His razor grass whip, bone bison armor and acid lizard plasma caster show his progression, calling back to his brother's advice to use the environment.

Tessa tells Mother Dek is dead, which clearly isn't honest. Reportedly Fanning could keep her eyes open without blinking for a long time, so her shutdown stare wasn't an effect, and her double jointed elbows reportedly freaked out Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi. The legs' fight moves were shot on a mocap stage with harnessed stunt performers and a stunt double in blue on their upper half. Dek finally calls her Thia, and she calls him Dek of the Yautja: both get the recognition their families withheld.

The Finale And The Duel On Yautja Prime

Tessa arrives in a power loader like Ripley's in Aliens, and the acid lizard takes a shot meant for Dek. With his mask knocked off, he keeps the tradition of a Predator unmasking before the final fight. The Kalisk's entrance references Hard Target, starring Lance Henriksen, who played Bishop in the Alien franchise. Its shattering might be a Terminator 2 reference. Half frozen Tessa resembles Nebula before Bud rips her head off, spine attached. This is the first time in one of these films that a Predator has survived an entire hunt.

On Yautja Prime, Dek beats his father's guards and uses his thrusters to expose his cloaked father. Originally the duel was a shorter samurai style standoff with an arm cut off, but Trachtenberg had it redone, adding the sandstorm to reflect Dek outsmarting his father. Dek says he has his own clan now, and Bud bites his father's head off. A final ship on the horizon is, Dek says, his mother.

A Possible Link To Alien: Earth

Badlands is standalone, but I think threads could connect later. Genna's creatures made me think of those Weyland-Yutani captured in Alien: Earth, and I feel this is a search for something more powerful than the xenomorph, which they find in the Kalisk. Wendy, a hybrid who can communicate with xenomorphs, could have been what led Yutani to create emotional synths. Trachtenberg said he and Noah Hawley didn't know what each other were doing, though Hawley sent episodes, and Trachtenberg left things open.

For me, some jokes work and some don't, and I probably still prefer Prey. But Badlands did a lot right, and Trachtenberg is three for three with Predator movies.