The new Predator film is set 300 years in the past

It’s Disney+ Day, and that means there is news aplenty on tons of shows and movies coming in the next year. While there have been a lot of really great announcements today, including first looks at She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel and Moon Knight, one thing I did not see coming was the details for a new Predator film.

Yes, that’s right. Disney is responsible for making Predator movies now. It may still have the 20th Century Fox logo, but in the end, all bow to the Mouse.

According to Deadline, the new film is titled Prey, and will be releasing summer 2022 on Hulu in the United States and on Disney+ internationally. Directed by Dan Trachtenberg (The Boys, 10 Cloverfield Lane) with a script penned by Patrick Aison (Kingdom, Jack Ryan), Prey is a prequel set almost 300 years before the events of the original Predator film. This time, the apex hunter of the galaxy has set its sights on the Comanche Nation. Facing off against the technologically advanced alien is Naru (Amber Midthunder), a skilled warrior who fights to protect her tribe from the grisly fate that inevitably befalls those the Predator deems worthy prey.

Why Prey is an exciting step for the Predator franchise

At face value, the fact that a new Predator movie is due out next year is super exciting. We’ve known for a while now that this film was in production — previously under the title Skulls — but now that we finally have details, it’s putting things into perspective. Given the unique setting, this could easily become a standalone franchise if Trachtenberg and his team can pull it off.

To date there have been four Predator films as well as two Alien vs. Predator spinoffs. With the exception of Predator 2, each of the mainline movies more or less revolves around the titular alien hunting down members of a burly man-squad of commandos / escaped cons / murderers, etc. To set this prequel during the height of the Comanche Nation is a genius move, and focusing on a lead female warrior is long overdue for the franchise.

I do have some reservations about the fact that this will be the first Predator film to not get a theatrical release, but given the quality of streaming content nowadays that could be less of an obstacle than it once might have.

For today though, the newest Predator movie has a title and a description, and that’s enough to get the hype train rolling.

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