ScreenCrush: The Podcast! - Predator: Badlands BREAKDOWN - Star Wars and Alien Easter Eggs You Missed!

Episode Date: November 11, 2025

ScreenCrush The Podcast tackles all the movie and TV hot topics, offering reviews and analysis of Marvel, Star Wars, and everything you care about right now. Hosted by Ryan Arey, and featuring a panel of industry professionals.

Welcome back Screen Crush, I'm Ryan Erie, and this is all of the Easter Eggs references and little things that you might have missed in Predator Badlands. Now, this movie is filled with Easter eggs for hardcore Predheads, and we see that right out of the gate, starting off with an entry from the Yatchewa Code. Just as Tractonberg did in his last Predator Movie, Killer of Killers. Per Dex, like a Predator Rubik's Cube? Not quite. It's essentially the Yatchua's Bible. It defines the strict code they live by and their strict dogmatic values. The entry reads, Yatchewa are prayed to none, friend to none, predator to all, which speaks directly to the movie's core message. Despite having clans and families, the Yatchewa culture keeps them pretty isolated in the vast galaxy they explore. Now, occasionally, they've made alliances with other species, but it's certainly

not something that's widely accepted, nor seen as honorable. Their social status and legacy are all defined by their achievements rather than their contributions to society as a whole. They are naturally individualist and relying on others as a weakness, which makes Deck and his brother unique. Then we open on Yatchewa Prime, which is one of the few times we've actually seen the Predator's homeworld outside of a quick scene in Alien versus Predator Requiem and at the ending of Killer of Killers. If you couldn't guess from the name, the Predator movies are about the natural relationship between Predator and Prey. And we see that reinforced in nearly every establishing shot of the film where we see something getting eaten. As Degg zips past on a hover bike, the same one that we saw

featured in Killer of Killers. We see him passed by the skeleton of an enormous creature submerged in sand that looks like it could be a parody of the crate dragon from Star Wars before arriving at the cave to spar with his brother. So he grapples to the cave using a shoulder mounted device. Now, this is typically where the Yatchewas were their blasters, but as we quickly learned, deck has not proven himself worthy enough to use the good tech. He scans the area where we see him using the Yachua's iconic helmet overlay and targeting system before discovering his brother cloaked behind him and showing off his skills with the plasma swords. Now, these are a relatively new weapon to the franchise that can fold into a smaller, more compact mode, as we see later in the film.

Tractenberg stated the design actually came from the Demon Hunter's Warglai from World of Warcraft. Now, The story has a very natural way of catching you up on both Deck and Quay's backstory as they fight in a cave. We learn that he's trying to live up to his father's legacy, but hasn't quite found a fighting style of his own. His brother encourages him to use his environment to take down stronger prey, which is something he eventually learns to embrace in his own way. Deck never yields, and in doing so, his brother nearly kills him. He doesn't even bother to see if he makes it out alive, which is a dynamic way to show the Yatchew's values. Yielding is dishonorable. They never show signs of weakness. Now, while it just seems like his brother is trying to kill him,

he's actually honoring Deck and valuing him by trying to murder him. Deck also loses his mask as he falls, which holds a lot of symbolism on its own. Yatchewa always remained masked until they meet a truly worthy adversary, in which they revealed themselves. We've seen this in the final fight of nearly every predator film, but here it's used differently. Typically, these moments are the big cinematic reveal, seeing the monster's true face and validation towards the hero. But Deck's position as the protagonist flips the symbolism of the tradition. When Deck loses his mask, it exposes his own insecurity. It subtly shows how he sees everyone as a worthy adversary due to his own lack of confidence.

Now, after Dex survives the cliffhanger ending, we start to understand why, as Quay explains how he isn't even considered Yatchewa until he's completed his first hunt. Now, when they make their way back to the ship, we get a shot of the trophy room featuring a ton of Easter eggs from classic aliens. There are the obvious ones like the giant T-Rex skull on the right and the human skull on the left, but there's a few that are more ambiguous. Above the human spine, we see a large, humanoid-like head with an elongated cranium. Now, the most obvious guess is the engineer skull from Prometheus, but some online have also speculated that it could belong to the aliens from Sites or even a Telosian from Star Trek. On the right of the human spine, we see what looks like the skull of a predator hound from 2018's The Predator,

especially since it seems to have a small dot on the side of its skull, just like the one Nebraska lobotomized in the movie. Now, many people online speculated that the skull to the right of the spine could be a young xenomorph queen, but that doesn't really line up. However, it could be the tripods from War of the Worlds, or even a very very, young Cloverfield monster, since Dan Tractonberg did work on 10 Cloverfield Lane. There's also a few teeth necklaces, one of which looks like it could belong to the Death Angels from Quiet Place, and this one could be Rancor teeth. In the center of the center panel, we see a harvester skull from Independence Day, next to a large ape-like skull that bears a striking resemblance to a fake Bigfoot skull that people have tried to pass off as real. Above the Bigfoot skull is a River

Ghost skull, a creature featured in predators, that were imported onto the Game Reserve Planet to be hunted alongside the humans. Now to the right of that, we We see a large humanoid skull with massive lower fangs, which seems to resemble the orcs from the Warhammer series. Below that is a reptilian-like skull, possibly from a gorn from Star Trek, and on that same row we see a Megalodon tooth, a giant prehistoric shark, and finally a small rodent-like skull that many online thought was an Ewok. Now there's also one small set of teeth in between them that no one has been able to identify yet, but after some deep lore research and matching dental records, we found out they actually belong to your mom.

Speaking of teeth, we also get a backstory on Dex-chipped fang, which was the result of him protect his brother as a child from the Yatchewa toy, the same one he uses to trick Tessa later in the movie. Now, this is the foundation of their bond, and it eventually becomes the context in which Deck redefines himself as an alpha later in the movie. Now, as we see him cycle through his potential prey options, one shot shows a Native American woman with a bow, an obvious reference to Nauru. When Quay hands deck his shoulder cannon back, he says, "'Blow yourself up, asshole.'" And speaking of shoulder cannon, I am so excited to show you guys this predator using his laser

to play with Cat's shirt that we just designed for our merch store. Now, this is alongside tons of other great merch we're excited to show you guys, like celebrating the manliest handshake ever with this Dillon and Dutch shirt. Also celebrating iconic lines from the first movie like, Get to the Chopper! And I ain't got time to bleed. And we also have this Deck the Predator, a spoof of The Explorer. And on the other side of the franchise, we have this Tamagotchi Xenomorph and classics like Zeno Serial and a xenomorph bursting from your chest wearing a little hat and cane.

Guys, shopping our merch store is the best way to directly support our channel. We love designing these shirts for you. I own like three already. Links for those are below, and if you become a member, you can earn rewards and get free stuff. Now, back to the movie. Now, the brother's heartfelt story time is rudely interrupted when Daddy Norr rolls up in the same yacht to a hover bike that we saw before. Now, he draws heavily from Nordic mythology, which makes sense, given that predators

are essentially space Vikings. His name, Norr, comes from the Norse god, Njor, who not only fathered many children, but it's also where the Irish word nerd, meaning force or power comes from, which is fitting for this fertile clan leader. Now, when as dad arise, we see Dex slice open his hand to welcome his father with honor, yet another Yatchewa tradition that we saw in the Coliseum scene from Killer of Killers. They do this to show the strength of their bond, but as we see, their family is anything but bonded. Nor is pretty pissed that Quay has not taken out his brother to purify the bloodline,

since the Yatua selectively slaughter their weak to ensure that only the strongest pass on their genetics. It's a tradition based on many European cultures, such as the Spartans, Romans, and Greeks, who had exiled deformed infants that they claimed would burden society. After seeing that Quay hasn't successfully culled his brother, Nor tosses out some new tech, to restrain his prodigal son, which seems like a modified version of the Yatchewa bear trap from predator hunting grounds. This device forces deck into a kneeling position, which we see flipped in the film's final scene. Now, what's interesting here is that the father still orders Kui to execute him despite being restrained. Now, this goes against the Yatua honor code, which requires

a fair fight. He continues to bend those rules as he uses his cloak throughout the fight with Kui. Now, this is typically considered dishonorable, especially when fighting other Yachua, which may hint that Moore could be a bad blood. They have shrifties in space? This has nothing to do with Taylor Swift. A bad blood is a Yatchewa who breaks the code of honor. When this happens, they are considered no longer Yatchewa and not accepted within society. But they're also hunted down by some of the most elite predators so they can be executed, which may explain some of the cliffhangers that we were left with at the end of the film, but more on that later.

Aque sees this moment as a chance to protect Dek, just as Dek did for him. And while he loses the fight, he's able to launch his brother off to Gennah successfully. Now, outside of that signature trophy room, Dek's ship looks distinctly different than the other Yatchua ships we've seen before. It doesn't seem like Deck knows what the hell the ship is either as he crashes into Ghenna in the classic Yachua style, since they never really can land those things safely. Are you saying they're bad drivers? Well, in a way, yeah, I am. Yatchewa technology isn't really their own. They adopted it from another alien race called the Amengi, who used to use primitive Yachua as slaves, but after an uprising, the Yachua stole their technology. Their vehicles are

intuitive enough that even humans can hijack them, as we saw in Predator Badlands, but some take to it quicker than others, like deck. Now, since the initial launch knocks him out, he only starts to realize what's happening as he's being ejected from the ship, much like Valdez, in the opening of 2010's Predators. He's attacked by a vulture, the dragon-like creature we see later, and the escape pod deploys a safety device that looks heavily inspired from the gyrosphere from Jurassic World. After getting his footing, we see Deck check his equipment, including the Yatchewa Bow, first seen in Predator Hunting Grounds. There's also a comb stick,

which is the Yachua's classic collapsible spear, some multi-purpose explosives, a wrist-mounted smart disk, and a filled metacomp kit from Predator 2. It also gives us a chance to enjoy, to enjoy the movie's incredible score composed by Sarah Schaffner, who worked with Tractenburg on prey, but is most famous for her work in video games like Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed Vahala. The score even uses the Yatchewa chance, which she describes as almost a mantra for Deck as he embarks on his transformative journey. Now, Gennah is just as transformative for the franchise as Decc is.

The planet is filled with so much deadly floor and fauna that even natural predators like the Yatchewa immediately become prey, and we see this in his very first encounter. So we first see a glimpse of the living vines, as they take out a small creature behind Deck, watching from over his shoulder, like the Jungle Clan Predator in the 1987 Classic. However, it seems like the Vines aren't after organic life at all,

but rather, Dex, gear. The Vines initially go for his weapon kit and gobble his comb stick as soon as he throws it, almost as if they feed off inorganic material, much like the flies recently introduced in Alien Earth. Deck then runs up the trunk of the vines to escape to higher ground, the same mood that we see him pull off later during his fight with the callusk. Although he manages to make it out safely,

he's lost most of his gear and clearly he's going to need it. So we get a panning shot of Gennah featuring a pterodactal-like creature snagging a mid-air snack and a giant worm-like creature dangling off the clip of the mountain, which looks like a massive D plume care, one of the newly introduced species in alien just before we're hit with the title card. As deck tends to his wounds, we see him scan the environment for plant life that he can use to heal himself just as Nauru did and prey. Now in the original script for the film, Nauru was actually meant to accompany Dick, teaching him how to hunt on his journey. But Tractenberg changed his mind when he he added Whalenutani into the plot. However, some of her influence is clearly passed on in the

riding. And this is also when he first notices the explosive slugs that he uses in the final fight before heading over to the vulture's nest. Now the nest is surrounded by plants that shoot projectile-like stingers to inject a paralyzing neurotoxin, which may have been inspired by real-world plants like the exploding cucumber, which fires its seeds like projectiles. They're triggered after deck steps on a purple flower that bears a striking resemblance to the black goo-infested fungus from Alien Covenant. And this is where we're introduced to Thea, a Wayland-Utani synthetic. Now, Wayland-Utani and their army of artificial synths have always been a major part of the alien franchise. But this is their first major appearance in a predator film. They're

known for exploring the galaxy for the universe's most dangerous creatures and treating them to a buffet of their most loyal employees as they shipped them back to Earth. Now, that said, they clearly know a lot about the Yatchewa and their culture, probably because they're the whole reason they started searching the stars in the first place. See, the post-credit scene in AV Requiem shows Utani getting her hands on a Yatchewa blaster, nearly a century before their iconic merger with Wayland Corps, who would eventually create the technology to figure out where the blaster came from. When she first tries to speak to him, he doesn't understand her even though she's speaking Yatchua, which could indicate that Dex clan speaks an entirely different dialect.

Luckily, she has a universal translator, which is a pretty convenient plot device that feels straight out of Dr. Who. Thea shows Dech that the vulture is using the plants as a trap, showing how he isn't the only predator on this planet that uses tools to hunt their prey. So their first encounter really speaks to the movie's message on individualism. Deck initially denies Thea's help until she says that she is artificial, which is the first time we see Deck begin to question his traditions when he regards her as a tool. In this sense, Thea and Deck were designed to be opposites in terms of personality and to complement each other's capabilities. In promotional interviews for Badlands, Tractenberg explained how their relationship was inspired by games, like the Shadow of the Colossus and Legend of Zelda,

where there is a sole protagonist paired with a something slash someone who provides color and connection. She eventually proves her worth the deck by not only saving him from the vulture, but also offering to guide him to the callus. Now, deck starts off hesitant, but like I said, he agrees to take her along when he discovers that she is actually a tool. Now, this is not only something we eventually see him master in the final fight, but also it's what convinces him that she is a useful tool rather than a person, which exposes the fundamental flaw of individualist thinking. The Yatchewa aren't concerned with the well-being of others or the collective good,

but rather with how the people around them can be used. Now, while this attitude may provide the Yatchew with a temporary advantage in battle, it eventually leaves them even more isolated and vulnerable than they were before, as we see play out later. Now, at first, Thea seems like you're cliche, naive optimist, blowing through a list of Yachua questions like he's vigilante's latest hyperfixation. Quiz me. What?

About owls. Look up Alfax and then see if I know the answer. As they travel, we get our first shot of the spray snakes, the acid-spitting eels that feel like an AVP crossover in and of themselves. Their bodies resemble the classic Yatchewa's shoulder cannon, as shown in the final fight, but they naturally weaponize acid as a defense mechanism, just like the xenomores. Throughout their initial travels, Theo shows Dech how to use nature to work with him rather than against him. And we see him start to embrace this idea as he creates a harness for Thea out of tree vines

before finally offering his name. Tractenberg said that the idea for Deck to carry Theo on his back came from Chewbacca and C3PO in the Empire Strikes Back. Now that night, Deck sets up a portable campfire as we get some more backstory on Thea, who has apparently been commissioned on Gena for two years. She also fills us in on her sister, which not only introduces us to the main villain, but also it's a very obvious parallel for Deck. Both Deck and Thea were saved by their siblings, and they hold some sense of guilt towards this,

which leads them both into the same seemingly impossible dilemma later in the movie. Thea also explains what makes her intested different than the other synthetics, that they were programmed with more emotions. Now, this is interesting, given that on the show Alien Earth, we saw Prodigy a Dement different company than Wayland-Utani, spearheading the development of some more emotionally sensitive synthetics. We also saw how Prodigy was able to fully repair, restore, and even reprogram these synthetics as they see fit, which seems to be exactly what's happening when we find Tessa. She's taken to an airlocked med bay that looks like the one aboard the Nistromo and throughout the alien franchise, but it's retrofitted for synthetics. It's also operated by the same AI system,

the MUTHUR 6,000, aka Mother, but it's received an update, specifically 2,578 of them. Now, as she's powered on, we hear her repeating her sister's name and her final words before the callus took her. Mother communicates with her Viatex, just like she did with the crew aboard the Nistromo, and establishes Tessa's mission as incomplete, until she has acquired specimen XX-052. The same number as the Yatchewa Codex entry that we see in Killer of Killers. Like the xenomorphs, they see the callusk as a potential profit, and they are willing to risk their workforce to retrieve it. Mother even threatens to decommission Tessa if she doesn't complete the mission, just like Quay threatened to decommission deck. And then we turn back to Decc and Thea as they venture into the razor grass,

which seems to be a parody of the razor grass from Magic the Gathering, but also draws from real-world defense mechanisms that many plants use in West India and Australia to deter predators from feeding on them. The creature design in Badlands is top-notch, and the bone bison is the best example. It uses the opening on its face to push the razor grass out of the way, so then it can feed on the roots below. And this shows a level of intent behind each creature's design. Just before Deck can dive in, we meet Bud, who's unaffected by the razor

grass after puffing up the ridge scales on his back like an ironclad beetle. Now, these beetles can actually survive enormous amounts of pressure, including being run over by a car due to the unique ridges on their skin and the flexible cracks underneath that can redistribute pressure. He gives Dex some friendly competition as Ginnett continues to challenge the techniques that he is familiar with. At first, he tries reaching the bison through some good old predator parkour through the trees, but that immediately fails him, forcing him to get more and more creative with how he uses his environment. And as they fall from the tree, we see Thea makes some uncomfortable eye contact with the grass, recreating this iconic scene from Aon Flux. And then we get treated to some epic action as Deck takes down the bison,

which wins overbutt enough to save him from the Luna bug moments later. Now, as Tessa discovers Dex crash site, we get confirmation that the living vines feed on inorganic life because they attack the synthetics, but they are quickly subdued by SP18 blasters featuring flamethrower elements, which seem to be the massively upgraded variants of the many Wayland-Utani weapons seen in aliens, fire team elite. We then move to the scene by the campfire as we start to flesh out the group's dynamics. Now, Thea has grown on deck enough that he offers her food, even though she didn't earn the kill. So this is a small but significant break from his Yatchewa heritage, but it's also the first sign that he sees her as more than just an oversized pokey decks for Gennas deadliest creatures.

After she rejects it and he offers it to bud, he marks him with his spit, similar to what domesticated possums do to their human owners in order to mark them with their scent. They do that? That's so gross. This is when Dex starts to open up about his daddy as Despite the fact that his entire hunt started as a desperate attempt for his father's validation, he resents the very idea of family. He wants to be nothing like his father, but he's following in his exact footsteps. Thea points out how the toxic masculinity of Yatchewa culture causes them to suppress their grief,

as Dechia recounts the story of his brother. See Yatchewa see emotion as weakness, but slowly Dech is learning otherwise as he begins bonding more with his newfound family. However, he throws it all away in the morning when he leaves Bud behind. Sorry, bud. So this takes us to their conversation under the waterfall. which becomes a significant turning point for the film. Thea reframes Deck's mindset by introducing the idea of the Alpha Wolf, explaining that their strength isn't measured by kill count,

but rather by their ability to protect the pack, contrary to what the worst guy at your local bar might say. See that fussy? I'm the alpha male. Hardcore Predhead's ears perked up when they heard the term wolf, since that is the canonical name of the veteran Yatchewa in AVP, but it seems like the name is just a coincidence, especially since he exclusively works alone. It's also something that Deck can immediately identify with

after the loss of their brother, and it changes their trajectory completely. Then they seal their commitment with their own take on the classic Dylan and Dutch handshake. But of course, all of that growth is immediately challenged when they get to the den of the callusk, which is full of discarded Wayland-Utani Tech, including Thea's legs, which she tries to patch up in one of the wrecked portable labs. Now, the lab itself has been flipped upside down, which subtly foreshadows how Dex's world is about to be flipped upside down by Thea's betrayal, reversing all of the lessons that he has learned. He immediately reverts to classifying her as a tool to hide his shame for being used. He then tries to draw out the kousk after sniffing a puddle of oil,

which is a bit odd given that he clearly has no nose. However, the skin around the inside of their mouth has specialized receptors that can taste the air, similar to the way that snakes use their tongues to track prey. We see even more of the shadow of Colossus' influence when the calusque emerges from behind the fog, just like many of the gigantic colossi in the game. He creates a makeshift shield out of a car door, the same iconic maneuver that Steve Rogers famously pulled in Captain America First Avenger before learning why the beast is truly unkillable. I love how Tractenberg even highlights the symbolic parallels between the Calusk's regrown limbs and Thea trying to get in touch with her other half as the fight interrupts her mid-stitch. His fight with the Calisk also shows

how much deck has already learned. We see him run up the Calusk's tail, just as he did when fighting the vines earlier, and he uses the tools around him to avoid the Callisk attacks and eventually restrains it with the chain wench. He's already learning how to use his environment. Now the name of the Calusk is a reference to the Basilisk, the giant snake monster from Greek mythology, that could kill with a glance. But in this movie, it seems to be more inspired by another Greek monster, the Hydra, which could famously regrow its limbs after they were amputated, including its heads. As he's pinned down, things look hopeless for Deck until the Cowask recognizes her child's sin on him and everything changes. The camera slowly rotates from Deck being pinned to being eye-level

with the creature, showing now they're no longer enemies, but equals. And this is huge for Dec, He dissuitness the full power of the callus, and after starting to understand what true strength really is, he realizes just how much stronger he could be fighting with nature than against it, which completely reframes his idea of Klan in a way that his Yatchewa brain can understand. Clearly, the regenerative ability of the calis are why it's such a high priority for Wayland-Dutani. They have been obsessed with the idea of immortality, and it's one of the main reasons why they're so dedicated to dissecting xenomorphs in the first place. So it's no surprise they would want to capitalize on the unique killing factor.

Deck and the callusk then get put on ice by Tessa using the cryoboms that she stole from his ship, which is a strategic choice. Not only is it the perfect way to handle the callus, given its abilities, but it's also how the Yatchewa and Wayland-Utani store hunters and employees above their respective ships. Dex capture exposes who the real apex predator of Gena is, and how corporate greed can be more brutal than even the Yatchewa. Now, while both the Yatua and Wayland-Utani recognize DeK as uniquely weak, the Yatua at least give him a chance to prove himself or die trying.

but corporations are a different kind of predator. They see Dex's weakness as a deficiency worth studying, which they use as an excuse to torture and endlessly dehumanize him. But how can you dehumanize an alien? I mean, look, I'm using humanizing in a metaphorical sense, but it's no coincidence that this runt of a Yatchewa looks more human. It not only makes him less of an intimidating threat, but also, Tractenberg wanted him to intentionally have more human features

so that the audience would empathize with him, and it certainly helps in these scenes. Tessa uses an X-ray machine to scan Dex's brain, which uses the graphical overlays that we see in Alien Covenant and Prometheus. The sense debate flips the script on deck. Thea tries to defend him as defective, reverting back to evaluating others based on how useful they are. Tessa defines him as property and tells him that he should be honored,

which is a dark reflection of the joke that he made earlier about Thea being honored to be the first to witness his trophy. Thea continues to be a thematic parallel to Quay, but since she's had a chance to reboot, it also gives her a chance to resent her sacrifice. Thea, standing up to deck, is enough to earn his trust again, and together they give Deck the chance to escape after distracting the guard with Deck's childhood toy, which turns out to be less of a toy in the traditional sense and more like the lament configuration from Hellraiser.

He makes it back to his ship where he uses the metacomp kit to heal his wounds, just like we first saw the city hunter use and Predator too. He finds his brother's helmet, but decides not to wear it in the final fight, as he fully embraces himself as a new kind of predator. As we said before, the Predator movies are all about the natural relationship between predator and prey. But the problem is that it frames everything in nature as adversarial. as if everything is always working against each other in perpetual competition. The Yatchewa see nature as a tool for their own personal gain

and destroying nature is a sign of strength. But that's not how nature works. Symbiotic relationships are not only the foundation of all life, but even the very natural relationship between predator and prey is symbiotic in and of itself. Which means that the very core of the Yatua code works against them obtaining their true strength, not as an individual, but as a collective, as a clan. Eventually, Dex starts to understand that the true apex predators are the alphas, the ones who use their strength to protect others and work with the course of nature rather than against it.

We get a montage as deck transforms into this natural predator, recreating the Yatchewa iconic armor and equipment using Guinness deadly environment. Just like Dutch and Nauru, he weaponizes his knowledge of the environment and utilizes guerrilla warfare to take out the more technologically advanced enemies. He mounts a spray snake to replace his shoulder cannon, replaces his blades with razor grass, fashions some new armor from the bone bison, and fashions makeshift mines, using the vultures dart plants and exploding caterpillars. Before heading out, he finds Bud and Hawksalugi on her,

showcasing him fully embracing his new clan, before he sends Stia's legs running back to her, kind of like pieces of the iron giant. As he invades the facility, he once again subverts the traditional expectations we have of this franchise. Whiteland Utani always presents us with a battle between nature and technology. But in the alien franchise, the xenomorphs framed that conflict as an existential threat. But as we've said many times in our breakdowns,

the xenomorphs are not malicious. They're just doing what xenomorphs do. and capitalistic hubris are the real reasons that so many employees lose their lives. Wayland Utani is just as individualistic as the Yatchewa, but they take it one step further by intentionally using others for their own corporate game. Badlands presents the same conflict, but heroizes nature in the process. Instead of nature being presented as this dark monster waiting in the corner, it becomes a secret weapon to take down the monster,

which ironically is the same tactic that so many predator protagonists use to take out the Yatchewa themselves. It shows a complete rejection, of his Yatchewa heritage as he finally proves how badass he can be. So there's a few more alien references in this fight. Deck uses the acid spitting spray snakes to take out the scents, melting their insides like the flies from alien Earth. And we also hear the classic sounds of the Nistromo as Tessa contacts Mother. As Mother is congratulating Thea, she casually drops the company's slogan saying, we are truly building a better world, a phrase we've seen plastered underneath their logo in nearly every alien movie. Mother also repeats her question about the status of the Yatchew when it didn't

like the answers that Thea was giving it, as we've seen Mother do many times in the alien franchise. Surprisingly, Tessa lies to Mother about Deck being alive, which doesn't seem to comply with company policy. Yeah, isn't that like against her programming? Well, you would think so, but remember, she's not like the other sense. She can use her understanding of emotions to manipulate others, just as Wendy and the hybrids from Alien Earth do. Now, at first, it seems like she's doing so to protect her sister, but really, she's just trying to ensure that she doesn't diminish her own accomplishments or show signs of deficiency. Like DeK at the Beck at the Beard's, beginning of this journey, she is trying to hide her weakness from her superior and prove that she's

worthy of her mission. After taking out the guards and putting the pieces of his crew back together, literally, we see this clash of ideals culminate in a final fight when Tess rolls up in a giant mech, a yatchewa shoulder cannon, and we get the most tragic death of the movie. Now, the fight is an obvious homage to Ripley's final fight in aliens when she takes on the Alien Queen and the P-5,000. But this time, the alien meck is battling for the other team. Now, the suit itself isn't human shaped, like the P5,000, but rather it mimics the general shape of the calisque and even has a few new tools of its own, such as the blade saw attachments on its arm. And just as it looks like Deck has finally become the hunted, the callusk catches tests slacking from behind,

and Deck gets a moment to bond with the creature that saved him. This is a moment for him to realize that this clan that he chooses to protect also allows him to share their same power and strength rather than destroying that power and strength. By embracing the callusk, they all become stronger. Now we see that message, reiterated when Thea rejects Tessa as her sister after Deck's warm moment is cut short by some icy indigestion. Tessa shatters the callus from the inside, just like the T-1000 and Terminator 2, but Deck brings his arc full circle as he stabs her in the neck and retrieves his brother's gun. Bud then grabs Tessa's spine, ripping it out and holding it over his head as he roars,

recreating the classic predator victory pose. Both Deck and Thea reject their fake families for their chosen one, and now that Bud has been orphaned, he has no choice. They've created a new clan, unlike anything we've seen the Yachtch, would do in the franchise before, but Dex still has one more thing to check off his list before he can fully embrace his new life. So they head back to Yatchewa Prime so Deck can work out his daddy issues, Yacha style. He uses the synth skull as his trophy, identifying not only the true apex predator of Gena, but also his new understanding of his disapproving father. Yet again,

we see his dad fighting dirty, using the cloak in and out of combat. But Deck shows how much more lethal he is now that he's mastered his environment, using the sand to navigate through the cloak. He uses his father's restraining the device against him, forcing him to kneel before him just as he was in the beginning. His father also refuses to show his face, denying his son's status as a worthy opponent. However, he doesn't take the final kill for himself, instead leaving it for Bud, showing how he has completely turned away from the Yatua's individualistic values of personal glory. He removes the cloaking device from his father's gauntlet, which unfortunately canonizes their sphere-shaped design introduced in 2018's the predator. Now, the ending teases a lot more to come as he spots his mothership on the horizon,

and if you want to know about that, you can check out our Ending Explained video right here. Well, guys, that's everything that we caught in Predator Badlands, but I want to know what you think. Did you think Badlands was a step in the right direction for the Predator franchise? And if you enjoyed this video, be sure to let us know down in the comments below. We're on Twitter Blue Sky Threads or are free to join Discord server. And if you hated the video, blame Dodd the nerd who wrote the script, you can go yell at him in any of his social links below.

And if it's your first time here, welcome to channel. Please subscribe, smash that bell for alerts. For Screen Crush, I'm Ryan Erie. Thank you.