Shane Black and Frank Dekker’s screenplay isn’t concerned with sport hunting - daring to question why we call them “Predators” in the first place - and gives the alien creatures in the film goals to accomplish beyond “kill kill kill.” But ideas and Easter eggs planted in the movie suggest that all previous Predator movies have been part of one franchise story universe the same way we think about something like Star Wars. The Predator is part sequel, part reboot. Predator movies, loosely based on graphic novels produced by Dark Horse comic books, revealed that the Predators had been using Earth to hunt Xenomorphs since the early days of human civilization and taught us how to build pyramids. Predator (1987), Predator 2 (1990), and Predators (2010) all stick to the basic monster-movie premise: Predators hunt humans. Up until this month’s The Predator, the sci-fi franchise featuring an alien race that hunts humans for sport didn’t spend much screen time building a vibrant universe filled with story rules.
