We Cannot Get Over the Alien Easter Egg within the New Predator Trailer

The primary trailer for Predator: Badlands was launched final week, and we’re nonetheless obsessing over it. The concept of getting a Predator as the hero of a Predator movie is cool sufficient, however set on a planet full of different species of badass, killer aliens? That’s simply past superior. And but, those are merely the sprinkles on our obsession. The principle focus is the large, doubtlessly world-building Easter egg 26 seconds in. Right here it’s in the event you don’t know what we’re speaking about.

So, in Predator Badlands, Elle Fanning performs a personality named Thia. Thia appears fairly regular in that prime picture of her however a half second later, her eyes roll again and reveal one thing staggering: the brand for Weyland-Yutani.

Weyland-Yutani, after all, is the evil company from the Alien franchise. The one that claims it’s okay to kill everybody on the Nostromo as a way to get the Alien again to Earth. The one which sends the Marines out to “kill” the creatures however actually they’re simply one other sacrifice made whereas making an attempt to accumulate them. The one Ripley screws over by killing herself on the jail planet. Sure, that Weyland-Yutani made Thia.

That is one thing we all know the corporate does. Weyland-Yutani additionally created the opposite androids we’ve seen in Alien films: Ash, Bishop, Rook, and many others. Even in the newest installment, Alien: Romulus, the android character Andy has a second nearly precisely the identical because the one above. Keep in mind this?

So, you could be questioning, why is {that a} large deal? Aliens and Predators have fought earlier than in a number of films in addition to comedian books. Sure, that’s true. Nonetheless, that is our first hyperlink between the Predator franchise and the Alien franchise on this new, fashionable period of the movies. And it appears to be taking place with some care, readability, and intention. Absolutely, it’s not a coincidence that each Andy and Thia have the identical eye roll second. These really feel like the primary seeds of an Alien vs. Predator Cinematic Universe achieved in a sufficiently subtle approach that these items solely need to repay if the followers need them to.

What does it imply, although? Properly, that’s the place issues get attention-grabbing. It’s unclear when Predator: Badlands takes place however, if there’s a Weyland-Yutani android there, it’s actually after or through the occasions of the Alien movies. And if that’s the case, did the corporate put this android there on goal? Are they actively trying to find different killer alien species across the universe? Or did Thia simply occur to finish up on this planet stuffed with them?

It could be extremely attention-grabbing if all the Alien movies we’ve seen with Weyland-Yutani (which, it ought to be talked about, are additionally entrance and middle on this summer time’s present Alien: Earth) represented only one sliver of the corporate’s efforts to accumulate alien creatures for examine. Possibly the xenomorph isn’t the one goal. Possibly as one department of the corporate goes after xenos, one other is after Predators, and one other is after these big issues within the Badlands trailer, and god is aware of what else. Or, if none of that’s true, what is going to the corporate do in the event that they discover out about Thia’s information of this huge number of creatures?

Oh, and can this connection result in a brand new movie the place Aliens and Predators go at one another? May it even occur on this particular film? We don’t have solutions to any of those questions however they’re rattling enjoyable to ask anyway, therefore our obsession with this primary Predator: Badlands trailer and its thrilling Alien Easter egg. The movie opens on November 7.

Need extra io9 information? Take a look at when to count on the most recent Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on film and TV, and all the pieces you must learn about the way forward for Doctor Who.