Critics Cheer as Disney’s Predator Gets Turned Into a Girl Brand

In his review of the new Predator: Badlands, IndieWire’s David Ehrlich falls into the Carl Sagan-esque trap of thinking that just because a (alien) species is “hyper-advanced” they won’t maintain millennia-long cultural, social, and religious customs.

In his seminal book Cosmos and elsewhere, Sagan (pictured) had posited that any species — human or alien — would have to be very advanced socially (meaning, mainly, no more war) in order to develop technologies enabling them to travel among the stars. If not, chances are highly likely they’d end up destroying themselves.

I used to buy into that premise; not so much anymore.

For example, way back in 2007 I was contacted by an editor who was publishing a book on the reimagined “Battlestar Galactica,” and he asked if I’d like contribute a chapter. I agreed, and my premise was to be similar to Sagan’s stipulation — that it doesn’t make sense the humans of BSG aren’t more socially advanced than the humans of Earth now — mainly because they possess advanced technology such as interstellar travel.

The editors disagreed. One wrote in part (emphasis added):

I’d be curious what evidence you have to suggest that the humans would be more advanced morally and culturally in the world of BSG.  Does scientific (and/or technological) advancement require a certain base or level of moral behavior in order to be developed?  How do we know this?  It seems to me that in quite a few cases, science precedes morality and ethics — that we often develop the tools before we have the moral capacity or ethics to develop or apply them in meaningful non-destructive ways. …

Since the backstory of BSG does not allow for the appropriation of technology, how do we make sense of the moral and cultural development of the humans?  Is this (or are we now) simply the best we’re ever going to be? Are we substantially more sophisticated than the Greeks of 2000 years ago? Or pretty much the same.  If the same, what are the implications of that?

(The editors asked me to rework my thesis; I declined citing the impending school year — I was still teaching — and hence lack of time.)

Hello, Earth? Yes, we still suck as a species.

Of course, with BSG it’s a bit easier since us inhabitants of planet Earth actually have a connection with the characters. But the principle could be applied elsewhere, including the Predators (officially called the Yautja). Ironically, since the Alien franchise is connected to the latest Predator installment, it is wise to consider a subsection of the very first Dark Horse Comics “Aliens” comic (written by the great Mark Verheiden), “The Theory of Alien Propagation” when examining any alien species.

In it, Dr. Waidslaw Orona pondered how the Alien xenomorphs bred and spread to other worlds (keep in mind this came out before Alien 3, in 1990), and ultimately concluded “There are two absolute, unequivocal facts: 1) They are not like us. 2) We will never truly understand them.”

But IndieWire’s Ehrlich acts like an arrogant contemporary liberal in his analysis. The fact that the Yautja are, despite possessing high technology, still warrior-like is ridiculous, he says:

No disrespect to the many different warrior tribes who may have inspired the Yautja, but there’s something fundamentally backwards about a hyper-advanced alien species that — despite having solved intergalactic travel — still only knows how to measure its own worth in murder and masculine aggression. ’Twas ever thus, on Earth as it is in the heavens, but [director Dan] Trachtenberg recognizes that the Predators are always just a bit more embarrassing than they are badass. …

Trachtenberg’s latest hunt takes direct aim at the evolutionary uselessness of being the universe’s biggest assholes. The [Alien] Xenomorphs aren’t smart enough to know any better, but these “ugly motherfuckers” have invisibility cloaks and triangulated laser sights! They’ve been around long enough to have T. rex skulls on their mantelpieces! …

And yet, for all of those accomplishments, the Yautja’s religious credo has never evolved beyond “Prey to none, friend to none, predator to all.” Congrats for surviving more than 65 million years on the hellish “Star Wars” concept art of a planet you idiots call home …

That’s because, maybe, the Yautja are not like us, and it’s likely we’ll never truly understand them. Even the Engineers in the Alien-verse (from whom we’re descended) created the deadly xenos with all their technology and genius. Make sense? No? Well, they are not like us. 

Isn’t it ironic how progressives love to lecture us about diversity, multiculturalism, and ethnocentrism … yammering that no culture is better than another, just different … but here’s Ehrlich (pictured left) doing just that with an interstellar reach. He’s passing judgment on a culture way older than ours — being “xenocentric,” if you will.

His conceit is such that he claims Badlands succeeds because it “reckon[s] with the [Predator] series’ fundamental weakness [the Yautja’s culture] rather than continuing to pretend that it’s the series’ greatest strength.” Thus, I’m sure he just loved how the girl-boss aspect of Badlands (star Elle Fanning is “the most interesting character this franchise has ever seen”), complete with a Yautja sporting a badass human lesbian haircut sent a huge tingle up his leg.

Meanwhile the Hollywood Reporter’s Richard Lawson said in his review says this is “Dan Trachtenberg’s surprisingly soft-hearted addition to the Predator canon, a movie that pushes its franchise mythology in a decidedly sweet direction. Some viewers might miss the macho brutality of Predators past, but Dek’s adventures in self-confidence and chosen family may well satisfy plenty of others. This Predator is queer and we should say it.”

For those who wanted a “gentler and cuddlier” Predator, Badlands must be for you. Check out our review here.

REAL MARKETING IS BACK 😭 pic.twitter.com/UdLhNPlkU8

— sonia (@finalgirlsonia) November 5, 2025

Despite this, Predator: Badlands is doing well at the cineplex, setting a few high franchise marks including best domestic opening with $40M, best worldwide opening with $80M and best Cinemascore with an A-. The film also hit the top of the weekend box office beating out the 2nd place film, Regretting You, by a full $32.9M. 

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