Predator: Badlands was all the rage at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday. Not only was it the subject of a Hall H panel – featuring director Dan Trachtenberg, stars Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi and Elle Fanning, and geek guru Kevin Smith as moderator – but the Hard Rock Hotel transformed its 207 Bar into the interior of a Yautja ship. I was fortunate enough to be one of the few people to get inside.
The very first thing that greets you is a collection of skulls, ranging from a Tyrannosaurus Rex to one of the Harvesters from Independence Day. On top of that, another wall is lined with weapons that the young Yatja Dek (Schuster-Kolomatangi) will use in Badlands, including a laser-lined sword and bow.
Next was a section where a computer would ask if we had any questions. I asked, “Has anything beaten a Yautja?” The computer’s response: “There is no known being in the universe who can defeat a Yautja.” (Clearly, it hadn’t watched any of the Predator movies or read the more recent Predator/Marvel crossovers.) But then a performer decked out in a Viking-esque Yautja costume stalked out and growled at me, clearly offended by my inquiries.
Finally, there was a section decked out to look like a Weyland-Yutani spaceship, including a coffin with the body of Fanning’s synthetic Thia inside. If that wasn’t creepy enough, there was a whole forest in the bar section that had a Thia animatronic that actually spoke! Finally, we all got a free drink and a replica of Dek’s Predator helmet before leaving. While the wait was lengthy, the payoff was worth it as I actually felt like I was in the world of Predator: Badlands.
Predator: Badlands premieres in theaters on November 7.
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