Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Predator: Killers of Killers.
The new CG-animated feature,Predator: Killer of Killers, presentsa new action-packed, bloody entryinto the iconicPredatorfranchise. Co-writer and co-directorDan Trachtenberg, who previously worked onPrey, expandsthe mythology and world-building of thePredatorsaga in new and exciting ways. The new film builds on what worked before and ignores what did not; specifically,the greatly maligned 2018 sequel,The Predator. Additionally, the new feature contains some interesting callbacks for the franchise.Predator: Killer of Killersshowcases more of the Yautja [the actual name of the Predator race] culture than ever before. It’s time to unpack howPredator: Killer of Killersties intothe granderPredatorseries.
The Yautja Race Has Its Own Codex
One of the most notable aspects ofPredator: Killer of Killersis that it begins with a pre-title crawl revealing a passage from the “Yautja Codex.” This officially canonized “Yautja” asthe name of the Predator race. Trachtenberg adheres tothe expanded universe materialsfor thePredatorandAlien vs. Predatorsagas that have existed for decades. However, the word “Yautja” has not been used in aPredatormotion picture until now. The term was first used to refer to the race of alien hunters in the 1994 book,Alien vs. Predator: Prey, bySteve PerryandStephani Perry.
It’s exciting that the film finally makes Yautjathe official name of the Predator race. The Yautja Codex describes a code that the race of hunters must live by: to go forth and hunt the deadliest warriors to become “the Killer of Killers.” To become the Killer of Killers is one of the highest honors a member of the Yautja race can achieve; hence, the reason the Predator creatures in the past movies have targeted soldiers, gangsters, and other “killers.” Violent combatants arethe deadliest game for the Yautja.
“What’s a Ride That We Haven’t Gone on Yet?": Dan Trachtenberg on Where He’s Taking the Franchise After ‘Predator: Killer of Killers’ and ‘Badlands’
The director also discusses whether you need to see this movie before ‘Badlands’ and updates us on his ‘Portal’ and ‘Waterworld’ projects.
Predators Abduct the Most Skilled Warriors, Similar to ‘Predators’
The film reveals that any human combatant who experiences the misfortune of encounteringa Yautja hunterand might come out of the conflict alive will later becollected and frozen in cryostasis. After that, they are taken back to the Yautja home planet, where they are kept frozen in time for hundreds of years.Killer of Killersshowcasesthree human warriors from across historywho manage to defeat Predator hunters: the Viking raider, Ursa (Lindsay LaVanchy); the disgraced samurai, Kenji (Louis Ozawa); and the Hispanic-American WWII Era fighter pilot, Torres (Rick Gonzalez). This idea builds off the premise of the 2010 moviePredators, which depicts the abduction of some of the world’s deadliest combat soldiers and killers, who get dropped off on the Yautja’s game reserve planet,where they are hunted for sport. The difference is that the human abductees inPredatorsdid not manage to kill or encounter Yautja hunters in the past, dissimilar from the human trio of warriors shown inKiller of Killers.
A Familiar Flintlock Pistol Appears in ‘Killer of Killers’
The trio in the movie, for the honor of beating Yautja hunters, takes part in a gladiatorial combat game and must fight to the death. Then, the winner receives the honor of facingthe Yautja clan leader. During the battle, they are granted one weapon of their respective tribes. In a humorous moment, Torres is offered the familiar flintlock pistol,the Raphael Adolini 1715 pistol, which was first gifted to police officer Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover) after he defeated the City Hunter inPredator 2in the year 1997.Preyreveals the origin of the pistol and the original owner, Raphael Adolini (Bennett Taylor), who was a French voyager and part of a fur-trapping party. In the movie, after meeting Naru (Amber Midthunder), Adolini and his group are killed bythe Feral Predator. The year in which the final sequence ofKiller of Killersis set is unclear, so it’s uncertain whether the flintlock pistol wastaken from Naru afterPreyor perhaps from Harrigan afterPredator 2.
A Familiar Face Returns at the End
During the gladiatorial combat game, the humans manage to form an unlikely alliance andfight against their Yautja captors. Together, they manage to steal a Yautja spaceship and escape the arena. However, Ursa jumps off the ship, bravely breaking a chain hook anchoring the spacecraft so Kenji and Torres can flee. The Yautja retake Ursa as their prisoner and place her back into frozen cryostasis, while the Yautja clan chief leads a hunting partyto catch the escaped humans. The Yautja put Ursa back into storage, among a vast library of other frozen subjects and warriors from across history, who have been kept forthe Yautja’s combat games. Revealed among the frozen abductees is Naru, the Comanche warrior fromPrey, who is still alive, but in frozen hibernation. The Naru reveal likely signalsher eventual return, but it’s not clear how or when that will take place.
It will be interesting to see if any of these characters or elements will tie intoTrachtenberg’s nextPredatorsequel,Predator: Badlands, which arrives in theaters on November 7. Perhaps the Yautja clan chief, introduced here, will play a role in the story. MaybeBadlandsshowcases more rival Yautja clans, their power structure, and hierarchy. That said,Killer of Killersgoesdeeper into the franchise’s lore than ever before.
Predator: Killer of Killersis streaming now on Hulu in the U.S.
Predator: Killer of Killers
