If You Think the New Predator Looks Bad – You're Missing the Entire Point

The story of The Predator franchise is one of the weirdest and most ironic success stories in Hollywood. What started as a (very thickly) veiled parody of macho '80s action movies somehow evolved into one of the greatest horror/action hybrids ever made. And let's be honest — while there are probably more bad Predator movies than good ones, the last one (Prey) was absolutely brilliant.

Still, even when it's bad, the idea behind Predator stays strong: a technologically advanced alien species traveling the galaxy to hunt the most dangerous game. And Prey showed everyone that you don't need muscle mountains with grenade launchers to make that concept work. A smart, resourceful protagonist with nothing but their brains and a simple weapon is enough to tell a tense, thrilling story.

Now director Dan Trachtenberg is back with Predator: Badlands, and the internet — being the internet — is once again doing what it does best: overreacting. The biggest complaint flying around? The Predator looks "too skinny" and "not intimidating enough."

But here's the thing: that's exactly the point.

According to the movie's official description, this new Predator is a young outcast. He's not a fully matured, decorated hunter. He's the awkward teenager of the Predator world, desperate to prove himself by taking down the biggest, meanest prey he can find. If he looked like a fully-armored beast straight out of Predator 2, it wouldn't make sense. He's supposed to be rough around the edges — not the final boss version of his species yet.

Honestly, it's a brilliant angle. We're getting a fresh twist: the hunter is also being hunted by his own insecurities and limitations. That's way more interesting than just rebooting the same old "big guy with bigger guns versus bigger alien" formula. It's giving underdog Predator energy and I'm here for it.

And let's be real: if you're judging a whole movie based on a few teaser shots and some early CGI, you must have slept through every bad trailer that led to a great movie (looking at you, Mad Max: Fury Road).

At the end of the day, Predator has always been about tension, cleverness, survival, and flipping the power dynamic. This sounds like it's aiming for that sweet spot again. So let's not write it off because the alien skipped leg day.

Bring on Predator: Badlands. I'm ready.