Warning: Contains SPOILERS for PreyAfter four entries with straightforward naming conventions, from 1987's Predator to The Predator in 2018, Prey intentionally deviates from its predecessors by choosing a title more befitting the film's story than the franchise's history. Prey follows the journey of Naru, a female member of a Comanche tribe living in the Northern Great Plains of 1719. Naru's collision with the iconic Predator has quickly become the most memorable Predator franchise encounter since Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch faced the beast in Central America.
Since its release on August 5th, 2022, Prey has been recognized as Hulu's most successful streaming premiere to date. The film quickly broke viewership records for the platform after receiving the best critical response of any Predator film in history. As a result, Prey's Rotten Tomatoes score reveals that Naru simultaneously eradicated both the alien she encountered in the movie and the bitter taste left by its immediate cinematic predecessor, The Predator.
Early in Prey's runtime, Naru's mother, Aruka, explains the Prey title when she reveals to Naru that the Comanche's Big Hunt ritual isn't as much about killing as it is about survival. This single line from Aruka distances Prey from its Predator precursors by illustrating the difference in perspective between Naru and former protagonists like Dutch or Predators' Royce. Most often, heroes in the Predator franchise are militaristic men with no qualms about killing. Past Predator battles could often be summarized as "killer versus killer" encounters. Naru, contrarily, never faced Prey's Feral Predator from a hunter's perspective - explaining exactly why Prey was never going to be called Predator 5.
Prey Differentiates Naru's Hunt & The Predator's Hunt
When taken at face value, Naru's victory against the Predator could illustrate her awakening as a true Comanche hunter. However, her behavior during the film's climax also creates a divide between Naru and Prey's main Comanche hunting party. Very early in Prey's runtime, Naru's brother Taabe recognizes her ability to be patient, observe, and adapt to her foe. This is in direct opposition to Taabe's own behaviors and the behaviors of the other Comanche hunters. In fact, to overcome the Predator's superior Prey weapons, Naru leans more on her past skills than those she's worked to develop during the Big Hunt. In the final fight, she uses the same trap-making, ambush tactics, and medicinal knowledge that the hunters scolded her for in her victory over the Predator.
The Big Hunt, after all, isn't meant to symbolize the similarities between the Predator and the Comanche. Instead, it separates them. While Prey's alien antagonist seeks blood, triumph, and trophies, the Comanche hunt only out of necessity. They hunt to feed, clothe, and protect their people. To further illustrate this difference, Prey also features a sizeable French hunting party who cuts through the plains and kills the local wildlife indiscriminately. Although Prey's French dialogue is left a mystery, the violent intentions of these characters are clear. If Prey followed the same "killer versus killer" template as previous Predator entries, this band of trappers pursuing the Predator likely would have been Prey's main characters.
Fortunately, Prey allowed the Predator franchise to evolve. At a time when ongoing horror franchises are either beloved or bemoaned in equal measure, Naru's journey proves that there's a place for Predator in the mythos of modern cinema. For a sequel to succeed, sometimes the solution is as simple as changing the perspective from the eyes of the Predator to the eyes of Prey.