For months, Predator fans have been eagerly wondering how director Dan Trachtenberg would be able to follow up the expectation-subverting simplicity of Prey. Now, the first trailer for Predator: Badlands has finally revealed the answer – and it delivered a look at a movie no one was anticipating. Taking the franchise in an unexpected new direction where no Predator movie has gone before, Badlands offered up plenty of action, a teasing hint at an Alien franchise crossover being imminent, and a new and very different Predator design that fans have obviously had their say on.

Trachtenberg’s teaser reveals a younger, exiled Yautja whose facial structure has been altered: the mandibles extend farther, the brow is smoother, and the bio-mask sits flush to a narrower skull, making the formidable creature almost human, to the point that until the face reveal some were tricked into believing the character the action was following...