Dan Trachtenberg Talks Predator: Badlands’ Alien Hero and World

Earlier this week, 20th Century Studios gave america a archetypal look astatine Predator: Badlands. Unlike the erstwhile movies, the split-faced alien is the apical star arsenic helium fights against the forces connected an alien planet.

In a caller interrogation with BloodyDisgusting, director/co-writer Dan Trachtenberg shed immoderate airy connected the film’s crippled and its protagonist. The young Dek (played by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) is an outcast from his clan connected Yautja Prime and goes astir searching for an eventual force connected the expected “Death Planet” of Kalisk, which helium hopes volition assistance him beryllium his worth.

Similar to Prey, Trachtenberg is looking to instrumentality Dek and his radical seriously. For example, the Yautja connection was treated arsenic decently arsenic “Elvish in Lord of the Rings or Dothraki for Game of Thrones.” It was crafted by a pupil of Paul Frommer, who created the Na’vi dialect for the Avatar movies and helped the manager debar “making thing much lore-focused than story-focused.” He described Badlands as made with a circumstantial intent—which helium doesn’t consciousness was the lawsuit for anterior entries—and “very genre, precise specific. I wanted to marque it consciousness similar an inversion of the main premise: present the Predator is connected different planet, and he’s going to beryllium hunted by things and has to usage his guile [to survive].”

A cardinal subordinate successful Dek’s travel is Thia (Elle Fanning), a Weyland-Yutani android whose arc is meant to reflector his, but “goes into a antithetic subdivision of proving oneself.” Trachtenberg cited respective influences to BloodyDisgusting, including Frank Frazetta and Mad Max 2—but erstwhile it comes to its 2 leads, helium looked to Team Ico’s Shadow of the Colossus. Badlands was inspired by “a [devastating] country with a horse…in presumption of wanting to spot a Predator with idiosyncratic other who provides colour and connection. Dek’s precise laconic, Thia is not.” Other than her tech skills, Trachtenberg said Thia brings a “real carnal thing” to the table, but kept mum connected specifics.

Doing a full movie astir the Predator and his android buddy is simply a “big, brainsick swing”—one Trachtenberg thinks audiences could gel with. For those curious, Predator: Badlands is successful theaters on November 7; those who conscionable privation classic Predator stories tin ticker the erstwhile 5 movies. In that aforesaid interview, Trachtenberg discussed the film’s visuals and however Dex was made, and you tin work that here.

Want much io9 news? Check retired erstwhile to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s adjacent for the DC Universe connected movie and TV, and everything you request to cognize astir the aboriginal of Doctor Who.