Film news: Why you should be watching ‘Predator: Killer of Killers’

2025 is shaping up to be a good year for the Predator film franchise, with not one but two releases for fans to enjoy.

The first has already arrived, via Disney+ and Hulu streaming services, titled Predator: Killer of Killers.

Film News Blitz’s David Bason explains why you should be watching this excellent addition to the Predator canon.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

What is ‘Predator: Killer of Killers’?

Predator: Killer of Killers is an animated anthology story co-directed by Dan Trachtenberg and Joshua Wassung.

Trachtenberg was responsible for the amazing Prey in 2022, which infused new life into the Predator film franchise, and he is back with a live-action follow-up, Predator: Badlands, in November.

But before that, Killer of Killers has landed as a one-hour and 25-minute treat.

Each chapter of the story follows a distinctly unique Predator hunting a fearsome warrior in notable periods of human history.

‘The Shield’ follows Viking warrior Ursa coming face to face with a hulking, huge Predator, ‘The Sword’ sees a Samurai seek revenge against his brother before the duo team-up to take down another alien adversary, and ‘The Bullet’ follows an ingenious WWII pilot battling a Predator in air-to-air combat.

After facing off against Predators in their own time, each hero of the opening three chapters is captured and transported to the Predator homeworld for a far tougher confrontation.

What makes ‘Predator: Killer of Killers’ so good?

First off, Predator: Killer of Killers looks stunning, with a beautiful animation style that lends itself superbly to the visceral, gory action unfolding on-screen.

Moreover, this film succeeds as a taut, fast-paced and engaging film that hooks the viewer in for a short, but profoundly good time.

Rather than being a daunting, two-hour-long affair, Killer of Killers is over and done with after an enthralling 90 minutes.

However, this film's greatest success is the world-building Trachtenberg achieves after the fantastic Prey.

Prey was an innovative take on the Predator franchise as it placed the villainous alien hunter in the Great Northern Plains of 1719 America.

Instead of a hulking, machine-gun-firing, macho man fighting against an alien foe, a young Comanche woman, Naru (Amber Midthunder), uses her tenacity, strength and intellect to save the day.

Killer of Killers builds on this by showing Predators in three distinct periods, each posing different threats and challenges for hunter and hunted alike.

This takes the viewer on a beautiful visual journey and delivers effortlessly cool action sequences.

Moreover, showing different Predators with different physical traits helps build on the lore of this franchise in a way that feels natural, not forced.

The same can be said of the final chapter on the Predator homeworld, which presents a hierarchical society, a fearsome Predator King, and informs the viewer more about this species’ affinity for hunting. 

The net result is a compact, engaging story that successfully adds to the Predator lore and is well worth a watch.

What’s next for the ‘Predator’ franchise?

Killer of Killers is such an engaging story that for anyone who watches it, they will be instantly rapt in anticipation for Trachtenberg’s follow-up, Badlands, in cinemas later this year.

Badlands is set in the far future, on the Predator homeworld and for the first time, the central character is the alien hunter itself.

Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), an outcast, makes an ally in Elle Fanning’s android Thia as he goes hunting for an unkillable foe.

Having a Predator as the central character is a franchise first, and after Killer of Killers showed as an incredible glimpse of the hunter race’s homeworld, it will be fascinating to expand on this in Badlands.

What’s more, Thia’s android is a product of none other than the Weyland-Yutani corporation, a key component of the Alien franchise.

The Predator and Alien series have crossed paths before, and Badlands suggests they will be doing so once again.

A franchise once considered to have more low points than high, Trachtenberg’s trilogy of Predator films is well poised to close out with a flourish.

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