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by Kim Muntinga
Marvel expands the film "Predator: Badlands" with a comic book prequel
28.8.2025
Translation: machine translated
Marvel is releasing the one-shot "Predator: Badlands #1" on 12 November. The prequel follows on from the film and highlights Dek's first mission.
Until now, the Predator was a hunter, a monster, a threat. But now it is becoming the main character itself - and even a tragic heroic figure. Marvel is accompanying this break with tradition with a comic book prequel to «Predator: Badlands». It will be published shortly after the film release.
The one-shot «Predator: Badlands #1» will go on sale on 12 November 2025 and ties in directly with the film storyline. You will probably be able to order the comic from us then too.
The comic book prequel: Dek's first mission
Marvel has put together an experienced team to realise the comic: Ethan Sacks, known for his work on «Star Wars: Bounty Hunters», is doing the writing. The drawings are by Elvin Ching, a promising talent from Marvel's Art Atelier programme. Juan Ferreyra is responsible for the cover. He has already worked with Marvel on several occasions.
The story centres on young Yautja Dek, who is given a seemingly simple task by his father: to recover a technological artefact from a crashed spaceship. But what begins as a test turns into a deadly challenge: an encounter with an ancient threat that pushes him to his limits. The comic thus shows where his inner turmoil and fighting spirit come from, even before the action of the film begins.
Source: 20th Century Studios
Marvel's ambition: more than just supporting material
Author Ethan Sacks describes the prequel as a «missing piece of the puzzle» that expands the film's plot and offers viewers deeper access to the protagonist. For him as a long-time «Predator» fan, it's an opportunity to tell a legendary character from an unfamiliar, emotional perspective.
For the film's director Dan Trachtenberg, it was clear from the outset that the film and comic should go hand in hand. He himself worked on the prequel and describes «Badlands» as the first «Predator» film to be so heavily inspired by comic book storytelling.
The film: A fallen hunter in search of honour
Trachtenberg, who has already proven with «Prey» (2022) that he can reinterpret the franchise, radically changes the focus this time. Dek (played by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) is not an unstoppable monster, but an outcast fighting for his place.
In order to regain his honour, he travels to the eponymous Badlands - a hostile region on the edge of the galaxy, dominated by monstrous creatures and colonial power structures.
He is accompanied by the android Thia (Elle Fanning), developed by the Weyland-Yutani corporation. This unusual alliance emphasises the break with previous films: no longer do humans face off against the Predator. This time, the Predator itself fights for loyalty, honour and belonging.
The film «Predator: Badlands» will be released in cinemas on 6 November 2025.
A break with tradition
In the past, the Predator was a projection screen for fear: an unstoppable hunting machine against which humans fought for survival. «Badlands» reverses this relationship. Dek is portrayed as a tragic figure - with weaknesses, hopes and a desire for honour. This moves the series closer to classic hero myths and away from the horror cinema of its predecessors.
The comic reinforces this approach. While the film shows the confrontations in the badlands, the comic book prequel provides the necessary height of fall: without the knowledge of Dek's weakness and his first failed mission, his fight in the film seems less personal. Only the two together paint a complete picture.
Header image: Marvel
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