Although I like most of the The Predator movies have frustrated me for a long time. Despite featuring one of the best creature designs in sci-fi horror history, the series never worked out how to make the Predator truly interesting after its movie debut. ittedly, no one could fault the franchise for lack of trying.

Predator 2 unleashed the eponymous monster in a concrete jungle instead of the original movie’s literal jungle, and this futuristic action thriller had its moments. However, it wasn’t as intense and gripping as the original, and the 2018’s reboot The Predator ended, I was ready to give up on the series entirely.

Prey Is The Predator Movie I’ve Been Waiting For Since I Watched The Original

2022’s Prequel Prey Recaptured The Straightforward Thrills Of 1987’s Original

If giving ‘80s action icon Shane Black free rein with the franchise wasn’t enough to salvage the Predator series, I couldn’t see how the movies would ever work. It seemed as if the Predator was just destined to be one of those monsters that have one great movie and no follow-ups that could ever recapture what made that original hit work. Then I saw 2022’s prequel Prey.

Set in 1719, Prey followed the Comanche heroine Naru as she evaded the franchise's titular threat while also dodging fur trappers who had invaded her ancestral home. Prey was the best Predator movie since the original Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle because the prequel both reinvented the series completely and simultaneously felt entirely true to the original movie. Like Predator, Prey was a stripped-back, irably simple chase thriller that never let up. Unlike Predator, Prey was set in the 1700s and featured the most diverse cast in the history of the series.

The Predator Franchise Had A Rough Journey After The 1987 Movie

The Predator Movies Struggled To Win Back Viewers Over the Decades

Prey’s setting was an inspired choice, and the decision to make the movie’s heroine an Indigenous woman flipped the perspective of the original movie on its head. However, these creative changes wouldn’t have mattered if Prey hadn’t delivered in of inventive scares, impactful action sequences, and original kills. Fortunately, Prey is as nasty, clever, and unpredictable as Predator, and despite the best attempts of earlier sequels, the prequel was the first time the franchise truly surprised me in decades.

The revelation that Predators is set on an alien planet is a neat twist, but director Nimrod Antal’s movie doesn’t do much with the premise beyond this revelation. Similarly, Predator 2’s urban sets up some colorful characters and fun sequences, but the movie still feels like a retread of the original. Finding out more about the Predator species in 2018’s The Predator could have been compelling, but the reboot ended up feeling like an obvious attempt to make an overly familiar monster interesting again with another redesign.

Prey proved that, in this franchise, less truly is more.

All the earlier Predator sequels made things more complex than the original movie and, thanks to Prey, I can now see that this was their downfall all along. What the Predator franchise thrives on is its simplicity, which is why watching Naru use every skill and weapon in her arsenal to evade the Predator was more thrilling than sending heavily armed soldiers and heroes with a Predator Killer suit after the monster in The Predator. Prey proved that, in this franchise, less truly is more.

What Is Next For Predator After Prey (And Why You Should Be Excited)

Predator: Badlands Will Take The Series In A Whole New Direction

It would have been easy for the powers that be to immediately green-light Prey 2, and I know I would have been first in line to watch that sequel. However, the studio wisely opted not to cash in on their big success with a retread of the same idea. The next Predator movie, Badlands, will be set in the future, although it will hold on to the services of director Dan Trachtenberg.

Predator: Badlands’ futuristic setting means it can feel as fresh and different as Prey, which is the most important quality for this franchise going forward. I’m delighted to see Elle Fanning leading the cast, as Prey's female lead was another major element of its success. Naru felt like a breath of fresh air in a franchise full of machismo, and her resilient personality reminded me of Ripley in her first infamous encounter with the Xenomorph. As such, the Predator franchise can continue to go from strength to strength now that Prey has proven it still has the potential I once worried the series had squandered.