Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Predator: Killer of Killers.
The new CG-animated feature,Predator: Killer of Killers, marks the next chapter ofthePredatorfranchise.Dan Trachtenbergreturns as co-writer and co-director, expanding his storyline from hishit 2022 franchise installment,Prey.Preyshowcases the Feral Predator hunting Comanche warriors and fur trappers inthe Northern Great Plains region of North America in the early 1700s. The story follows the young Comanche warrior, Naru (Amber Midthunder), who ultimately defeats the Feral Predator.
But whatever happened to Naru after the events ofPrey? In a shocking reveal,Predator: Killer of KillersrevealsNaru’s ultimate fate!
‘Predator: Killer of Killers’ Reveals the Yautja Race Has Been Hunting Humans Across Earth’s History
In the original 1987Predatormovie, Anna Gonsalves (Elpidia Carrillo) shares a story about finding men butchered and skinned, noting that in the hottest years, they would find men, “Sometimes without their skin…and sometimes much, much worse. ‘El que hace trofeos de los hombres’ means ‘the daemon who makes trophies of men.'” Anna’s chilling monologue implies that creatures like the Jungle Hunter have been visiting Earth and hunting humans for years, if not decades.Preyconfirms that creatures of the Yautja race have beenvisiting Earth for hundreds of years.Predator: Killer of Killersexpands on that idea, showcasingmembers of the Yautja racehunting Earth’s deadliest warriors across history, specifically: the Viking warrior, Ursa (Lindsay LaVanche); the disgraced samurai, now ninja, Kenji (Louis Ozawa); and the hotshot WWII Era fighter pilot, Torres (Rick Gonzalez).
Each of these humans manages to besttheir Yautja opponents, making them prime candidates for the Yautja’s gladiatorial combat games. The Yautja kidnap and abduct Ursa, Kenji, and Torres, taking them to the Yautja’s home planet and keeping them in frozen cryostasis until they are needed. Then, the trio is thawed out and were forced to take part in a deadly game of armed combat, a fight to the death. The winner receives the honor of fighting the Yautja’s clan leader. Despite their language barriers, the humans form an unlikely alliance, finding a way to escape their captivity. Torres and Kenji manage to purloin a Yautja spacecraft and escape the combat arena. However, Ursa sacrifices herself toaid their escape. The Yautja retake her as their prisoner while the Yautja chief orders the rest of his clan to hunt the escaped humans. An epilogue scene then revealsthe ultimate fate of Naru following the events ofPrey.
Sure, the Predator Looks Really Different in ‘Predator: Badlands,’ but There’s a Good Reason for That
This isn’t any ordinary Predator.
The Ultimate Fate of Naru Is Revealed
An epilogue scene depicts Ursa being placed in frozen cryostasis and stored with other living frozen subjects. The storage area in the Yautja chief’s collection depicts frozen warriors, some humans, and some non-humans. Among the stored warriors is none other than Naru. She’s still alive, frozen in time, but asleep. Naru has apparently been in storage onthe Yautja’s home planet for hundreds of years! It seems thatthe Comanche hide paintingfrom the credit sequence inPreywas accurate, and Yautja ships did return to Earth and Naru’s homeland. However, rather than hunt Naru, she was abducted and taken prisoner,kept in frozen storage for centuries.
The Yautja are a warrior race. Their entire culture is based on survival of the fittest and creating the most cunning hunter, or, asthe Yautja Codexstates at the beginning of the movie, “the Killer of Killers.” A sentient being strong or cunning enough to beat a Yautja hunter makes them a “worthy” opponent to be kept in the collection, where they are frozen and later thawed out, forced to take part inthe Predator race’s deadly gladiatorial games. However, even if they manage to survive the gladiatorial combat, they would still be forced to fight a Yautja clan chief. Therefore, it’s not much of a reward if they manage to come out of the combat game alive.
What Is Next for Naru?
Although Naru only makes a brief appearance inKiller of Killers, her big reveal teases that Trachtenberg still has plans to use her again in the future, and hopefully, signals her eventual return. However, the revelation means thatNaru’s family membersare all long dead, andher way of life is a distant thing of the past. How Naru might make her escape, or how she might figure intofuturePredatorfranchise installments, remains to be seen. But if the Yautja abduct human warriors they see as worthy, does that mean they abducted Dutch Schaefer (Arnold Schwarzenegger) fromthe original movie? What about Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover) fromPredator 2? Who knows how deep this goes?!
The next installment of thePredatorfranchiseis the live-action feature,Predator: Badlands, due out later this year. The new sequel depicts the story of an exiled Predator warrior, Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), who travels to a death planet to restore his lost honor. It remains to be seen whether Dek’s story ties intoKiller of Killersand possibly revisits Naru on the Yautja planet, where she’s being kept in storage.
Predator: Killer of Killersis streaming now on Hulu.Predator: Badlandshits theaters in the U.S. on November 7.
Predator: Killer of Killers
