Predator: Badlands is now in theaters, and while Dan Trachtenberg's Prey follow-up doesn't feature any direct connections to or crossovers with the Alien franchise - beyond the Weyland-Yutani synthetics, that is - there is one not-so-subtle nod to James Cameron's Aliens in the final act.
The movie also makes another sci-fi franchise canon!
If you haven't watched Badlands yet, major spoiler follow.
When Dek and Bud return to rescue Thia after she is powered down and packed away by her crew, Tessa confronts the Yautja in a massive power loader. Though this machine isn't exactly like the one Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) commandeered to battle the Xenomorph Queen in Aliens, it's similar enough in color and design to serve as a pretty obvious callback to the 1986 movie's iconic action sequence.
With some help from the adult Kallisk, Dek manages to fend off the power loader's impressive arsenal and defeat Tessa, before returning to Yautja Prime with his new clan. Rumors had indicated that we might get a post-credits scene setting up a new Alien vs. Predator movie, but there is no stinger (you can find out what happens at the very end of the movie here).
So, no actual Xenomorphs in this movie - but Badlands does include a slightly harder-to-spot nod to another sci-fi franchise.
Following Dek's battle with his brother in the opening scenes, we briefly see Kwei's trophy cabinet and some of the skulls he's collected. During an interview with Jake's Takes, star Elle Fanning revealed that director Dan Trachtenberg confirmed that the fan-shaped skull does indeed belong to one of the Harvester aliens from Independence Day.
There are several other skulls in the trophy case (including a T-Rex and what looks a lot like one of the Engineers from Prometheus), but we can only speculate about which creatures they might belong to for now.
Have you been to see Predator: Badlands yet? You can check out our review here.
Predator: Badlands is helmed by returning director Dan Trachtenberg (Prey, 10 Cloverfield Lane) and marks the franchise’s highly anticipated return to the big screen with a story that expands and redefines the Predator Universe.
Set in the future on a deadly remote planet, Badlands follows a young Predator outcast (played by newcomer Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) who finds an unlikely ally in Thia (Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Elle Fanning) as he embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary.
Produced by John Davis, Dan Trachtenberg, Marc Toberoff, Ben Rosenblatt and Brent O’Connor, Predator: Badlands opens exclusively in movie theaters on November 7 in IMAX, Dolby Cinema, RealD (3D), Cinemark XD, 4DX, ScreenX and premium screens everywhere.