"Predator: Killer of Killers" Trailer: Hulu's New Brutal Animated Anthology Expands the Predator Universe Hailing From 'Prey' Director Dan Trachtenberg
This action-packed animated film explores three historical settings as the deadly Predator wreaks havoc across time, with intense battles in Viking, feudal Japan, and WWII eras.
Some people truly believe there are intelligent alien beings from distant planets, likely benevolent and peaceful in nature. They would never intend to harm us if we were to make first contact. Instead, these space aliens are likely seekers and explorers, searching for a deeper truth about the vastness of the universe. It’s a lovely idea to think that our first interaction with such extraterrestrial beings might be one of curiosity, discovery, and shared wisdom.
But hogwash! If we’ve learned anything from the Predator franchise, it’s this: Any intelligent creature that happens to arrive on such a primitive planet like Earth can only mean one thing—it’s hunting season. No peaceful explorers here—just a highly advanced, ferocious predator ready to stalk, hunt, and prove their dominance in a deadly game of man versus alien. And if we’re the prey, well, we’d better hope we have more than just sheer willpower to survive.
Filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg, of 10 Cloverfield Lane, understood what made the Predator franchise such a compelling piece of sci-fi horror fantasy: it’s the primal thrill of the hunt and the primal fears of being the prey. It’s also the inconvenient truth that man might not be as superior as we often like to think.
Following the surprise success of Trachtenberg’s 2022 Predator standalone installment Prey, which took the franchise back in time to the 1700s focusing on the plight of a young Comanche warrior woman (played by the exceptional Amber Midthunder), the Predator film series is now finally opened up to various new possibilities. Prey not only revitalized the franchise, but its success has sparked renewed interest in the series, making fans wonder where the franchise could go next.
Well, it was announced last year that Trachtenberg is currently working on a new standalone Predator movie called Badlands, with Elle Fanning set to take on the lead role. While details about the film are still under wraps, just last week at CinemaCon, where they released the first footage, Fanning revealed her character will do something “unprecedented”—she will end up teaming up with the Predator in the new film. It’s a twist to the traditional Predator formula, and we’re sure fans are eagerly waiting to see how it pans out when Badlands lands in theaters this November.
The other big news that came out: Trachtenberg is not only working on one, but two new Predator projects. The other being Predator: Killer of Killers. It’s an original animated feature film set to be released this summer on Hulu, just a few months before Badlands hits theaters in November.
Directed by Trachtenberg and co-directed by Josh Wassung of the animation studio The Third Floor, Predator: Killer of Killers is essentially an animated anthology, featuring three different storylines set at various points in human history, each showcasing the Predator landing on Earth to wreak havoc and carnage.
Conceived by Trachtenberg, with a script penned by Micho Robert Rutare, the animated feature will see a Viking raider and her young son crossing paths with the Predator as she embarks on a bloody quest for revenge. It will also feature a story about a feudal ninja fighting against his Samurai brother in a brutal battle for succession while a Predator arrives on their turf, and finally, a WWII pilot encounters a strange spacecraft and gets into a brutal dogfight. Each of these stories promises to expand the Predator lore, just as Prey did, in new and exciting ways, offering different historical perspectives.
Predator: Killer of Killers is set to premiere exclusively on Hulu on Friday, June 6th.
Check out the newly released official trailer, posted above, to get a glimpse of the intense action, violent clashes, and new historical settings. The question is, will this animated film somehow be connected to the upcoming Predator: Badlands? It’s quite possible they could share overlapping themes or even subtly link up through their portrayal of the Predator across different eras. Fans will just have to wait and see if there are any connections or easter eggs between the two.
Here’s official synopsis:
The anthology story follows three of the fiercest warriors in human history: a Viking raider guiding her young son on a bloody quest for revenge, a ninja in feudal Japan who turns against his Samurai brother in a brutal battle for succession, and a WWII pilot who takes to the sky to investigate an otherworldly threat to the Allied cause. But while all these warriors are killers in their own right, they are merely prey for their new opponent–the ultimate killer of killers.
