Summer 2022 has been a grand return to the movie theaters. After the summer movie season was shut down completely in 2020 with a few films released for streaming, 2021 saw a hybrid model implemented by many like Warner Bros., Disney, and Universal. However, 2022 has seen multiple hits from Top Gun: Maverick, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Jurassic World: Dominion, to name a few. It seemed like the big event summer spectacle had returned to the movies. However, one of the most anticipated movies of the summer is skipping theaters, much to the chagrin of many, and will premiere exclusively on Hulu. This is the film Prey, the latest movie in the Predator franchise.
The movie is directed by 10 Cloverfield Lane filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg. The movie stars Amber Midthunder as Naru, a young Comanche warrior in 1719 who discovers that she is hunting an advanced alien, known as the Predator. While it seems perfect timing for Prey, as it arrives at the 35-year anniversary of the release of Predator in 1987, the film was originally intended to be marketed with no reference to the Predator creature in hopes of surprising the audience, but the reveal was spoiled.
Prey and the Streaming Era
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Since then, the movie has now played up this drastically new take on the Predator franchise, one that has taken advantage of its time period to distance itself not just from other films in the franchise but also from other action films. The movie sees the first woman as the star of the film and puts special emphasis on the Comanche storyline. The movie was shot in English and Comanche, with the entire cast performing an alternate Comanche dub of the film, and both versions will be available on Hulu for audiences to decide how they intend to watch the movie when it arrives on August 5, 2022. This is really something that only streaming and home media can do.
With Prey being released on streaming as opposed to theaters, many have expressed concern. Combined with the news that the next Alien film will also be released on Hulu, it is a pressing concern that has come up since Disney acquired 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Pictures) that they don't have much faith in the R-rated properties in theaters and will now exclusively be streaming properties. Can they ever come back from streaming? Is streaming now the new direct-to-video sequel or is it a way to get these films out to a wider audience who are turning out to the movies less? Prey has a rich legacy to draw from, and while its leap to streaming over theaters may seem like a step down the release and the film itself might be a step into a bright new future for the franchise, one that connects to its legacy but also upgrades it.
Possible Predator Connections
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The Predator film timeline is slightly confusing. Alien VS Predator established that Predators had been visiting Earth for generations and were worshipped as gods. However, both that film and its 2007 sequel are viewed as non-canon with both the Predator and Alien series and are said to take place in their own separate universe.
Prey is confirmed to take place in 1719, one year after 1718, the date which is written on the pistol of Raphael Adolini which is given to Lieutenant Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover) by a Predator in Predator 2. It is always possible that could be referenced or alluded to somewhere in the film.
Other than that, Prey takes place more than two and a half centuries before the events of the first Predator film meaning it is highly unlikely the film will connect to that film or any of its sequels. The director doesn't consider Prey a prequel; unless that's a bluff, the biggest connections would be a reference or some type of connection to the warring Predator factions introduced in Predators and expanded upon in 2018's The Predator. Prey in many ways is a standalone film, where audiences' past understanding of Predator films is an added bonus but not a necessity.
Prey Sticks to But Updates the Formula
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The fact that Prey is disconnected from the rest of the franchise is partly why it stands out so much. However, while the film may not have overt direct references to the series, it connects to the franchise in its overall formula. After 1987's Predator, the pitch for the sequel was to move it from one jungle to another, this time an urban jungle, hence the setting for Predator 2. The Predator movie formula has always featured a new location for the Predator to hunt, be it the Arctic (Alien VS Predator), an alien jungle planet (Predators), or the suburbs (The Predator).
Prey continues that formula, but updates it. Now, instead of just changing location, they are also changing the time period. The Predator movies have always stayed contemporary (Predator 2 was set in the future of 1997 when it was released in 1990). Prey creates a new formula for the series to follow: originally it was where the Predator will hunt, but now it can be when will the Predator hunt.
A New Era For Predator To Hunt
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With this new format, the Predator franchise has a chance to truly grow in an unprecedented way it never had the chance before. From this point on, future Predator films can focus on a different time period and tell that type of story with a Predator added in. Having a Predator hunt various individuals throughout history opens exciting possibilities for the series moving forward to showcase a variety of time periods to keep the concept fresh. Imagine a 1920s prohibition gangster story with a Predator mixed in, or even a classic western where a sheriff has to deal with a Predator. There are plenty of genres for the Predator to hunt in.
If the franchise did want to do a more closely connected film, a future movie could tell the story of the previously mentioned Raphael Adolini. The date on his pistol is 1718, around the time of Prey, so there is some basis to connect Prey with the larger franchise. Yet it also allows the filmmakers to tell a traditional pirate story, possibly looking for buried treasure but dropping a Predator into the story.
Essentially, the Predator movies could take the format of the first two Die Hard sequels, where they were not written as Die Hard films but reworked into them. Plenty of scripts and concepts that 20th Century Pictures could scope up and mix a Predator in. The first Predator itself was a genre shakeup, mixing a classic 80s action film with a slasher horror movie, so this is the natural extension of the franchise's creative DNA.
Prey's Old-School Type of Franchise Extension
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The Predator movies belong to a different era of franchise filmmaking, when sequels were less serialized and more standalone adventures with the key concept being the recurring element. While 20th Century Fox spent years trying to serialize the Predator franchise by trying to bring Arnold Schwarzenegger back for Predator 2 and then in the script that became Predators, the series always focused on a new human protagonist in a different location. That's been its modus operandi since 1987.
While franchises like Star Wars, Harry Potter, and superhero films have been serialized in nature with a larger over-arching story where every entry feels like a piece of a larger puzzle (or cinematic universe), even former standalone franchises have become far more interconnected in their stories. Starting in 2006 with Casino Royale, the James Bond franchise became more serialized. Mission: Impossible, which was famous for different directors coming on board to the series to tell their version of a Mission: Impossible film, but plenty of recurring characters and threads have been tying the various films together. Even Alien, which had a loose form of connectivity with Ripley and the Xenomorphs but primarily being standalone stories, became more serialized with Prometheus and Alien: Covenant.
Prey however does not look to expand, tie into, or set up any future Predator movies, but instead, uses the basic premise of the character to tell a standalone story. This is exactly what its director did with 10 Cloverfield Lane; Trachtenberg created an incredible standalone film set in the same world and events of the massive Cloverfield movie. The key with Prey is not to set up future films, but to make one great film. If this one turns out well, it can be the launch of a new era for the Predator franchise and could be looked upon as the turning point, when this 35-year franchise got direction.