Two sci-fi franchises that were struggling just a few years ago are now more prominent than ever. With Alien: Romulus, the Xenomorph made a strong comeback in 2024 after the middling reception to Alien: Covenant, as filmmaker Fede Álvarez returned the franchise to its horror roots. The Predator film series also found renewed relevance in 2022 with the Hulu film Prey, directed by Dan Trachtenberg. The positive reception of these projects would lead to an expansion of both worlds, with Alien getting its first-ever live-action television series, Alien: Earth, and the animated anthology film Predator: Killer of Killers (also directed by Trachtenberg) releasing earlier this year.
What’s most surprising and exciting is that a second Predator film was released this year, titled Predator: Badlands. The film marks the Yautja’s triumphant return to the big screen, with Trachtenberg once again directing. However, the movie subverts expectations by centering the story on the titular alien hunter as its protagonist. Telling the story of Dek, Badlands seeks to create a sympathetic lead from a creature long considered incapable of emotion. So, what better thing to pit the Yautja Dek against than a faceless corporation devoid of any soul? Enter Alien‘s Weyland-Yutani corporation, whose presence in Badlands ends up making the film the best (and most unexpected) Alien spinoff this year.
‘Predator: Badlands’ Deepens the Franchise’s Connection to the ‘Alien’ Films
The Alien and Predator franchises are no strangers to each other. Before Disney acquired them, both films were distributed by what was then known as 20th Century Fox. This, of course, inevitably led to the Alien vs. Predator films, a crossover series that saw the alien hunter go up against the Xenomorph, with humans caught in the middle. Unfortunately, both films were poorly received, and no other crossover films have been made since 2007’s Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. Now that both IPs have been revitalized, another crossover feels inevitable. Until then, however, Badlands is holding fans of both series over with the inclusion of the Weyland-Yutani corporation in this latest Predator film.
The young Yautja Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) is determined to prove himself by hunting the most dangerous creature on Genna, a planet teeming with hostile wildlife. Along for the ride is the damaged Weyland-Yutani synthetic Thia, who promises to help lead him to his prey, the Kalisk. Eventually, an unlikely bond forms between the Yautja and the synthetic, which leads the Predator into an inevitable collision course with Tessa, a synthetic identical to Thia who has much less complicated emotions and a straightforward directive. Eventually, the story becomes an intense conflict between the Predator and Weyland-Yutani synthetics, serving as an effective bridge to the Alien series.
While the Xenomorph has always been an opposing force in the Alien films, it’s the Weyland-Yutani corporation that has served as the overarching antagonist and the catalyst for the events of every single movie in the franchise. So it makes sense that the spinoff series Alien: Earth would delve deeper into the corporation’s influence over Earth. Noah Hawley’s series is captivating but not without its flaws. In fact, one might say that Badlands‘ more traditional approach to portraying the ruthless company is what makes the film a better Alien spinoff.
The Weyland-Yutani Corporation’s Characterization in ‘Predator: Badlands’
There isn’t a single human character in Predator: Badlands, with every human-like character being a synthetic. The Weyland-Yutani corporation’s creation of Thia and Tessa offers an interesting new angle, as the “twin sisters” are given a degree of emotion to better manipulate individuals. Thanks in no small part to Elle Fanning’s stunning performance as both synthetics (not too dissimilar to Michael Fassbender’s double duty on Covenant), Thia and Tessa feel like the perfect representation of Weyland-Yutani’s capacity for both good and evil. While Tessa is a combination of characters like David and Ash, this continues the trend of more benevolent artificial beings, such as Andy (David Jonsson), Bishop (Lance Henriksen), and Walter.
Alien: Earth offers a much more nuanced and in-depth exploration of synthetics, though that doesn’t necessarily make it a superior spinoff. There are plenty of corporate espionage and mind games in the series, but in Predator: Badlands, the Weyland-Yutani corporation becomes a much more straightforward antagonist. It’s also in how Badlands incorporates gory action alongside the various synthetics that the movie really shines. The Alien vs Predator films showcased how the Yautja would fare against Xenomorphs, and Badlands now reveals how one would fare against a fast-thinking Synthetic with directives from a corporation.
The result is a Predator film that manages to skirt the PG-13 rating by replacing human blood and guts with white liquids, as Dek cuts through his fair share of androids. It doesn’t get dire until Tessa fights Dek with his own Yautja technology, and we get to see an alien life form other than a Xenomorph go up against what seems like this overwhelmingly powerful entity that has its grip on even the deadliest and most remote planets in the galaxy. With straightforward goals and an unrelenting synthetic force, the representation of Weyland-Yutani in Predator: Badlands is both familiar and refreshing.
The Story of ‘Predator: Badlands’ Shows the Potential of More ‘Alien’ Crossovers in the Future
Predator: Badlands was sold to viewers under the pretense that the Yautja would face an unstoppable, insurmountable foe. While that technically isn’t wrong, it also wasn’t the giant alien creature the trailers had made it out to be. Instead, it was the massive corporation that has been the face of the Alien franchise as much as the Xenomorph. The result is a refreshing change of pace for both franchises and a clear setup for a potential third Alien vs. Predator film that could finally be worth the wait.
Making Weyland-Yutani the main antagonist of a Predator film is a big move, and a sign that the two iconic IPs are back to being closely associated with each other. Now that the fictional companies and species are beginning to overlap, it’s hard not to see how the villains in Badlands make it a more engaging spinoff than Alien: Earth. Now that a sequel to Alien: Romulus is on the way, there will be another opportunity for some creative overlap and more sinister characterizations of the employees and synthetics that make up the Weyland-Yutani corporation. Predator: Badlands is now playing in theaters. Alien: Earth is available to stream on Hulu.
- Release Date
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November 5, 2025
- Runtime
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107 minutes
- Producers
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Brent O’Connor, John Davis, Marc Toberoff, Dan Trachtenberg, Ben Rosenblatt
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Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi
Dek / Father
