Predator: Killer of Killers is an animated anthology movie that introduces Ursa, Kenji, and Torres, three warriors who hail from three distinct moments in history. Ursa is a Viking, Kenji is a ninja in feudal Japan, and Torres is a World War II pilot.
After each of them survives encounters with the Yautja, we learn that they were taken from Earth and placed in suspended animation by the alien warriors. They're woken up by the "Grendel King," the apparent leader of the Predators, who forces them to do battle before he faces the victor.
With Predator: Killer of Killers, filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg finally explained why the Yautja go on these hunts. Whether it's to track humans or their fellow aliens, the endgame seems to be testing the species they consider beneath them and then battling those they deem worthy in the name of honour and entertainment.
In the movie's closing moments, hundreds of warriors of all species are revealed to have been put in cryogenesis by the Predators. Ursa is placed back among them, and the camera pans to Amber Midthunder's Naru, the protagonist of 2022's Prey.
During yesterday evening's Predator: Badlands panel at the San Diego Comic-Con, Trachtenberg announced that the movie is now streaming with an extended ending on Hulu.
In that, the camera continues to pan across from Naru, this time revealing Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch from Predator and Danny Glover's Lt. Mike Harrigan from Predator 2. What, if anything, does Trachtenberg have planned for these iconic characters? That remains to be seen.
It feels like we're building to a huge crossover, and, at the same time, it seems the filmmaker might be plotting a new Alien vs. Predator movie.
The anthology story follows three of the fiercest warriors in human history: a Viking raider guiding her young son on a bloody quest for revenge, a ninja in feudal Japan who turns against his Samurai brother in a brutal battle for succession, and a WWII pilot who takes to the sky to investigate an otherworldly threat to the Allied cause.
However, while all these warriors are killers in their own right, they are merely prey for their new opponent: the ultimate killer of killers.
Predator: Killer of Killers is now streaming on Hulu and Disney+. A new poster for Predator: Badlands has also been released: