Predator: Killer of Killers is proving to be yet another great addition to the Predator franchise and another sign that Dan Trachtenberg was the perfect person to revitalize said franchise. It takes the premise that Prey ran with and puts it on steroids, telling three separate tales of three different time periods where a Viking warrior, a ninja, and a fledgling World War II pilot come face-to-face with a Yautja. Predator: Killer of Killers also boasts stunning animation thanks to The Third Floor, a studio that’s provided previsualization services for multiple blockbusters, including Godzilla vs. Kong and Avengers: Infinity War; Killer of Killers marks their first feature film. But this isn’t the first time a Predator film has provided animated content; that honor goes to Predators.

Predators features a unique inversion from the previous Predator films. Instead of the Yautja coming to Earth, this time nine humans are abducted and dumped on an alien planet that’s a hunting ground for a trio of “Super” Predators. It’s one of the most underrated films in the Predator canon, as it boasts a great cast—including Oscar winner Adrien Brody, Walton Goggins, and Laurence Fishburne—while also expanding upon the Yautja’s culture thanks to the work of Robert Rodriguez, who served as a producer on the film, and director Nimród Antal. The Predators Blu-ray takes things a step further, featuring two animated films that shed light on certain events in the film’s narrative.

The ‘Predators’ Animated Shorts Build Upon the Film’s Narrative

The Predators animated films, “Moments of Extraction” and “Cruicified,” take place before the events of the film; “Moments of Extraction” focuses on the lives of the human characters before they are taken to the Yautja’s “preserve,” including IDF sniper Isabelle (Alice Braga), Sierra Leone death squad soldier Mombasa (Mahershala Ali), cartel member Cuchillo (Danny Trejo), and Yakuza enforcer Hanzo (Louis Ozawa). “Crucified” puts the spotlight on the three Super Predators that serve as the film’s antagonists, as they track down and crucify a smaller Yautja—later in Predators, mercenary Royce (Brody) stumbles upon this “Crucified” Predator and frees it to help him battle the Super Predators. These two films feature a unique style of animation, mixing snippets of live-action footage with comic book art. But what really makes it immersive is the fact that the cast returns to voice their respective characters, offering insight into the events that turned them into the hardened killers you see in Predators.

20th Century Fox would later repeat this approach with The Predator, as that film’s Blu-ray featured the short film “The Predator Holiday Special.” True to its name, “The Predator Holiday Special” features a story where a Yautja invades the North Pole and starts slaughtering Santa’s elves and reindeer. Surprisingly, it turns out that the reindeer actually fight back, carrying machine guns and grenades. It’s a humorous take on the classic Predator story and a great alternative for anyone who was disappointed with the way The Predator turned out. The ending even surprisingly makes a case for an Alien vs. Predator holiday special!

‘Predator: Killer of Killers’ Features Some Surprising Connections to ‘Predators’

While Predator: Killer of Killers is mostly a standalone film, it does feature some surprising connections to past Predator films. That includes Predators, since Louis Ozawa has a major role in the Killer of Killers segment “The Sword.” Ozawa voices brothers Kenji and Kiyoshi Kamakami, who become a shinobi and samurai, respectively. At first, Kenji and Kiyoshi are at odds, but when a Yautja starts slaughtering everyone in pursuit of Kenji, the two put aside their brotherly rivalry and take out the Predator in a dual slash. It mirrors a similar scene from Predators, where Hanzo challenges a Super Predator to a swordfight and kills it in a single strike—at the cost of his own life.

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The biggest link that Predator: Killer of Killers has to Predators is, surprisingly, in its ending. Kenji, Viking warrior Ursa (Lindsay LaVanchy), and pilot Torres (Rick Gonzalez) are abducted and placed in suspended animation by the Yautja; they’re taken to a planet that’s essentially a massive coliseum, where a Predator Warlord forces them to fight each other to the death so he can fight the victor, dubbed the “Killer of Killers.” Predators co-writer Michael Finch had previously discussed his plans for a potential Predators trilogy and mentioned that the third film would have featured the Yautja’s homeworld, which would also feature gladiator-style battles:

“We never really got there, but we were thinking of modeling it on [ancient] Rome [with] gladiatorial combat, internecine warfare, native clans on the outside, and more established ones on the inside…Mostly, we wanted to show a civilization that was crumbling under its own weight a little bit. They had evolved so far … they’d conquered everything in a weird way and were sort of collapsing under their own weight.”

With its animated shorts, Predators built a foundation that Predator: Killer of Killers continued to expand upon. Hopefully, the reception to Killer of Killers means that more animated Predator content is on the way. But for now, this new installment is more than worth your while.

Predator: Killer of Killers

Release Date

June 6, 2025

Director

Dan Trachtenberg, Josh Wassung

Writers

Micho Robert Rutare, Dan Trachtenberg