Predator: Badlands is packed to the brim with all sorts of creatures, fauna, and characters. Many of them are entirely new additions to the storied franchise created from scratch, while others are recognizably indebted to films, characters, and creations of old.
For instance, the Weyland-Yutani synthetics, such as Elle Fanning’s dual characters of Thia and Tessa, are models that are pulled directly from the Alien franchise. Elsewhere, a skull can be seen hanging on the Yautja’s trophy wall (as pinpointed in the opening shot of the first trailer) that bears a striking resemblance to the extraterrestrial creatures from Independence Day. However, as it turns out, one of the hardest cameos to spot in the film is one that no one knew to look for until now: the creators of Stranger Things, the Matt and Ross Duffer themselves.
As recently revealed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Badlands director Dan Trachtenberg asked the twin brother writing-directing duo to make an unexpected audio appearance in the film, as the voice of the Yautja-engineered software that powers the ship the central character, Dek, is flying aboard. If you didn’t notice this sonic Easter Egg on first viewing, that may very well be because not only are the Duffer Brothers’ voices heavily distorted to more properly match the condition of the ship itself, but they are also speaking the Yautja language.
Why are the Duffer Brothers in Predator: Badlands?
But what exactly do Stranger Things and Predator: Badlands have in common? Where is the overlap between the Duffer Brothers, deep in the midst of finalizing the final season of their gargantuan Netflix series, and Trachtenberg, whose life has become consumed by the release of not just one but two different Predator films this year between Killer of Killers and Badlands?
Well, according to Trachtenberg himself, prior to both of those Predator projects getting greenlit, he was dubious about whether or not they would both get made, and actually signed on to direct an episode of Stranger Things’ final season. However, when both Predator projects were thrust into production for release this year, he ultimately had to renege on his Stranger Things commitment.
“The truth of the matter was that I didn’t know that Killer of Killers and Badlands were going to get greenlit at the same time," Trachtenberg recalled. "So I thought I could still squeeze in a Stranger Things episode, but then they both happened at the same time, and I just could not do three things at once. The Duffer Brothers were mixing an episode of Stranger Things at the same time we were mixing Badlands. We didn’t have a voice yet for Kwei’s ship’s computer.”
And thus, the Duffer Brothers got the gig, as an apology and a surprise of sorts. “We had a really fun time in the booth together, and it was pretty cool,” Trachtenberg concludes.
Predator: Badlands is out now in theaters.