The Predator's new mask in the upcoming Prey could have great significance for the extraterrestrial hunter. As the fifth installment of the Predator franchisePrey will show the titular alien up to its old human hunting tricks once more. This time, the Predator franchise will leave the modern setting it has typically taken place in for the year 1719, with other new elements also at work.

In Prey, the Predator hunts the Comanche tribe, with a young woman named Naru (Amber Midthunder) stepping up to face her people's adversary. While the trailer significantly obscures the Predator, either through rapid flashes of its appearance or its famed invisibility cloak, the creature is shown just enough to see that its design is quite different from past Predator movies. The Predator's mask is a particularly noticeable re-invention, and in addition to the apparent absence of the Predator's plasma canon, this could indicate some new details about the specific Predator appearing in Prey.

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In the previous Predator movies, the Predator's mask has more of a sci-fi look, with the mask being used as a tool to focus the Predator's infrared vision in its hunts on Earth. The mask seen in Prey, while likely still serving that same purpose, has what appears to be a skull of some kind adorned over it. This could hint that the Predator who will battle Naru and her people in Prey might have different practices in its career as a hunter, and might also be of a different subset of Predators.

Prey's Predator Mask Might Be A Trophy (& Reveal Its Predator Culture)

Prey movie pic

As seen in the Predator franchise, the skulls and weapons of various vanquished species are the prizes that the alien race treasures most as hunters. Predator 2 really emphasized the alien's hunting traditions, with a Predator carrying a flintlock pistol trophy and the Predator's ship having a skull collection of different creatures from throughout the universe. This even included a Xenomorph skull that planted the seeds for the Aliens vs Predator installment in the franchise. The Predator in Prey might have a more direct way of showcasing the successes of its past hunts, fashioning the skull of a particularly challenging creature onto its mask as the ultimate symbol of its skill as a hunter.

This could also establish Prey's Predator as being from another sub-culture of the Predators than previously seen versions. 2010's Predators introduced the Super Predators as a separate faction from the Classic Predators, with the two being in a long-standing rivalry with each other. Prey might be extrapolating this idea even further, showing a third culture of Predators with their own hunting rituals separate from the two already set up.

Prey re-inventing the Predator franchise is unmistakable in its marketing, and giving the Predator itself another makeover certainly does the trick. However, instead of simply being a new look on the surface, the Predator of Prey might instead have its own unique traditions when it comes to hunting humans and other kinds of prey. That could also be how Prey pulls back the curtain even further on the culture of the Predators themselves, showing how diverse they really are.

NEXT: Prey Could Be Repeating Predators' Title Trick

Key Release Dates

  • Predator 5
    Release Date:
    2022-08-05