Stay
UpdateD
Join the BPC
Email List
Stay up to date on exciting projects and upcoming events from the Black Promoters Collective.
If you’re a fan of the long-running Predator franchise, you may have been anxiously waiting for the release of Predator: Killer of Killers. The film, which was released on Hulu and Disney+ on June 6, is the eighth feature-length film in the growing sci-fi cinematic universe, and the first to be delivered in animation. Dan Trachtenberg served as a co-director of the movie after having successfully navigated the latest entrant into the Predator canon with 2022’s Prey. In a surprising turn of events, Predator: Killer of Killers was announced in tandem with Trachtenberg’s next live-action film, Predator: Badlands, which premieres in theaters this November. With all the action surrounding the expanding film universe, many Predator fans have been wondering about how the narratives of these projects will overlap, if at all. Luckily, we’ve got some answers on that front, thanks to a few blink-and-you’ll-miss-it easter eggs in Killer of Killers.
If you’re interested in parsing through the brand new movie and learning more about the expansive film franchise, be sure to read ahead. We’ll be unpacking the plot, characters and conclusion of Predator: Killer of Killers, and dissecting a few hints of what’s to come next. Be advised that there will be full spoilers ahead for several other movies in the franchise. If you’re looking to explore blindly, be sure to bookmark this page and return when you’re all caught up. With no further preamble, let’s dive right in and see what Predator: Killer of Killers reveals about the future of the Yautja hunters.
For years now, fans of the Predator movies have been pitching ideas about the titular aliens appearing in different eras of human history, and facing off against human warriors from various cultures and creeds. The idea seems like a no-brainer, especially after Trachtenberg successfully transported a Yautja hunter into 1700s Comanche, Native American territory with Prey.
In Killer of Killers, this idea is kicked up a notch by showcasing a series of Predator interactions throughout human history, culminating in several epic hunts. The narrative is split between three distinct vignettes – “The Shield,” which sees the extraterrestrial facing off against a Viking warrior, “The Sword,” which introduces samurai and ninja warriors from feudal Japan and “The Bullet,” which sees a Predator in an air-based dogfight against an American World War II pilot.
The film begins with Ursa, a Viking ruler who successfully hunts down and kills a warring faction with her son. As they make their way behind enemy lines, a Predator silently stalks them. As soon as Ursa and her son eliminate their opponents, the alien reveals itself and makes light work out of all of Ursa’s men. She and her son attempt to engage the hunter in combat, but it’s mostly futile, as the creature is outfitted with superior weapons and armor.
With some quick thinking, Ursa manages to get the drop on the Predator and entombs him under a thick layer of ice after their battle, which effectively destroys the entire building where the fight began. Despite succeeding in slaying her enemies, Ursa finds her son nearby and begs him to pull through as he succumbs to his battle wounds.
Centuries after Ursa’s victory, we meet a pair of brothers in feudal Japan. After training together for years, they engage in a battle to determine who will succeed their father as lord of the region. Kiyoshi comes out on top, leaving Kenji to flee from the area and take up arms as a shinobi. Twenty years later, Kenji returns to the castle to confront his brother and mows down hordes of samurai in the process.
Much like the previous portion of the film, a Predator watches the action from afar. Finally, the brothers have a showdown, where Kenji ultimately proves himself a more competent fighter – though he lacks the honor of a true samurai. As soon as the fight concludes, the Predator appears. Having deemed Kenji the preeminent warrior, the creature begins its hunt, and they engage in a battle that takes them all across the land, destroying everything in its path. Eventually, the brothers manage to subdue the Predator, but only by working together as a team. Much like Ursa’s son, Kiyoshi succumbs to his wounds on the battlefield, leaving Kenji to lament that they hadn’t reconciled sooner.
The third and final vignette of Predator: Killer of Killers centers on Torres, a young aspiring pilot who is drafted to fight in WWII. When one of his brothers in arms returns from the sky with a fatal wound and a chunk of alien technology lodged in his plane, Torres investigates further. He starts learning about how the otherworldly tech functions, though his commander has already departed to mount a return attack.
In a panic, Torres hops aboard his battered and broken plane and takes to the sky to save his brothers. By the time he meets up with his fellow soldiers, a Predator in a starship has already begun picking them off one by one, using a series of complex tools far outclassing those of the US armed forces. As this is going on, Torres learns more and more about Predator tech and concocts a plan to destroy the enemy vessel. His commanding officer sacrifices himself so that Torres can succeed, and the soldier ultimately manages to sink the enemy ship in the North Atlantic.
After all three core characters have bested Predator warriors in combat, they are abducted by an alien ship and placed into cryosleep for an indeterminate amount of time. Despite being separated by hundreds of centuries, the trio meet onboard the ship, attempting to find out where they are and how they got there. Unfortunately, the language barrier prevents them from effectively communicating.
After a brief time traveling, the gang are taken to a gladiator arena on a foreign planet and greeted by a Predator warlord sporting a cape made of Xenomorph spines. Using a translation device, the warlord commands the trio to fight each other to the death for the amusement of the cheering Yautja crowd. The winner of this battle will then be made to fight the warlord himself in one-on-one combat.
Though they struggle to communicate with one another, the three displaced warriors ultimately conclude that their chances of survival are better if they work together. Ursa and Kenji put their combat training to good use by taking down an alien monster of some sort, which the warlord released into the arena. Meanwhile, Torres manages to sneak out of the pit and learn more about the Yautja tech, even commandeering a hoverbike along the way.
Torres returns to the arena and unchains his colleagues, allowing them to hop aboard the bike and flee toward the warlord’s starship. Together, Ursa and Kenji are able to get the drop on the warlord, as Torres readies the ship for a quick escape. In the end, Kenji’s arm is hacked off, leaving him gravely injured, but still alive. Much like Torres’ captain, Ursa determines that her fellow Predator slayers can’t escape without a sacrifice. She ultimately leaps from the ship and dismounts a harpoon launcher, allowing the other two protagonists to blast off into the sunset.
Predator: Killer of Killers ends on a semi-ambiguous note. Will Torres really be able to fly the alien ship all the way back to Earth? What will become of Kenji now that he’s displaced from his time by centuries, and sporting a single arm? And how does this all tie back into the expanded Predator film franchise? In the final moments of Killer of Killers, Ursa is placed back into cryosleep, implying that she’ll live to fight in the gladiator pit once more.
As she is walked back to her sleeping quarters, we get a glimpse of a massive warehouse, loaded to the brim with other kidnapped fighters. Among these fighters, we see a few unknown humans, as well as one unnamed alien species. Just before the film cuts to the closing credits, we see Naru, the Comanche protagonist of 2022’s Prey.
This moment has massive implications for the Predator franchise, and connects Killer of Killers directly to Prey, not as a prequel, but as a bona fide sequel, taking place centuries after the events of Trachtenberg’s previous movie. Since we never see Naru get kidnapped during the runtime of Prey, we can surmise that this tribe of Predators has been returning to Earth systematically to collect Predator slayers for their gladiator games.
This, plus the introduction of cryosleep, means that the door is now open for all previous and future protagonists to appear in the franchise once more. Fans have already taken to the internet to debate the possibility of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Dutch or Danny Glover’s Lieutenant Harrigan returning for future installments. Likewise, fans are now wondering how this newly established canon factors into the narrative of 2010’s Predators, which concluded with two human characters stranded on a Predator game reserve planet.
For a franchise that has always been disjointed, and presented in an anthology style, it appears as though Dan Trachtenberg might be trying to unify the series with an Avengers-style crossover. For now, we’ll have to wait and see if any of these dangling plot threads continue in Trachtenberg’s upcoming film Predator: Badlands.
As of this writing, Predator: Killer of Killers has been receiving massive praise from critics and general audiences alike. The film currently touts a 96 percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, with an 90 percent score from fans. Though some viewers had objections about the film being an animated outing, it is now clear that Killer of Killers takes full advantage of the medium, in order to tell a story that could never have been made in live action. (At least, not without a multi-billion-dollar budget.)
You’d have to search pretty far to find many negative comments about the movie. If you’ve ever enjoyed a Predator film in the past, or you just like high-octane action with a sci-fi twist, you should definitely give Predator: Killer of Killers a try. Even if you’ve never seen another Predator movie, this outing manages to balance the existing lore of the franchise with new and exciting material, and offers a low barrier of entry for those interested in checking it out.
Should I watch Prey or Predator first?
Since the Predator movies are largely disjointed and told via anthology, you can essentially watch them in any order you want. Those who watch all eight feature films chronologically may be rewarded with a few Easter eggs and references, though doing so won’t necessarily impact your understanding of each narrative.
Who was the woman at the end of Predator: Killer of Killers?
As stated, the woman seen at the very end of Killer of Killers is Naru, the protagonist of Prey. In the 2022 film, Naru manages to successfully slay a Predator, making her an ideal candidate for the gladiator arena. For now, there’s no way of knowing if she’ll return in future films, or if this shot is simply designed to serve as a nod to hardcore fans. Either way, eagle-eyed viewers have pointed out that she’s got her Comanche war paint on her face as she sits in cryosleep, meaning she was likely abducted in the midst of another epic battle.
Stay up to date on exciting projects and upcoming events from the Black Promoters Collective.
©2025 Black Promoters Collective (BPC) All Rights Reserved.