The Predator: Badlands panel was one of the main events at this year’s Marvel-less San Diego Comic-Con 2025, and director Dan Trachtenberg and his cast did not disappoint as they brought 15 minutes of exclusive (and unfinished) footage from the film to the Con.
Now, if you weren’t in Hall H, there’s no way to see said 15 minutes. But luckily, GamesRadar+ was in the room where it happened and can give you a blow-by-blow of the exclusive SDCC 2025 Predator: Badlands footage.
Opening with narration about the Yautja being “friend to none, predator to all”, the footage follows Kwei and his brother, the film’s protagonist, Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi). As they enter a cave, they start to fight – a trial of sorts – with acrobatic grace. Dek is defeated, but Kwei shows mercy. The brothers talk about how Dek must prove himself in the eyes of their father.
Dek’s father is not impressed and implies that Kwei was supposed to kill Dek in his sleep, to cull the weakness from their clan. Dek is caught in a trap, Kwei ready to land a killing blow – but instead, the brother disables the trap and fights their father while locking Dek in the ship. Kwei loses, and is killed by their father, but manages to initiate the launch sequence and send Dek off to Kalisk, aka The Death Planet, where Dek goes on to meet Elle Fanning’s Weyland-Yutani synthetic, Thia.
“I know, traditionally, the Predator has just been a creature. Now it’s a character and that just takes some adjusting to,” director Dan Trachtenberg, who previously helmed Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers, recently told SFX magazine.
Keep track of all the latest news from this year’s San Diego Comic Con with our regularly updated live blog. Predator: Badlands hits the big screen on November 7. While we wait, check out our guide to the other best upcoming movies to add to your watchlist.
