The Predator franchise reboot Prey looks set to save the sci-fi horror series by changing its setting, something that Terminator 7 could pull off for the similarly tired Terminator series. The Predator franchise’s approach has not been working for some time. While the first two movies in the series were effective, grisly sci-fi horror movies, both Alien Vs Predator movies failed with critics (particularly the fan-despised sequel Alien Vs Predator: Requiem) and, while director Nimród Antal’s Predators was relatively well-regarded, 2018’s reboot The Predator was another critical dud. Fortunately, Hulu’s Prey looks set to save the franchise by offering an original spin on the overly familiar premise.
Another sci-fi horror series that began with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead, the Terminator franchise, has fallen victim to a similar rut in the last few decades. Like the Predator movies, Terminator: Salvation, Terminator: Genisys, and Terminator: Dark Fate all attempted to reinvent the franchise while still holding onto the same basic conceit as the original movie, and like the Predator’s sequels, these releases earned scattered faint praise but were primarily viewed as intriguing failures by critics. As a result, Terminator 7 should copy Prey’s approach by upending the franchise status quo entirely.
After years of wondering how to make the franchise feel fresh again, the creators of the Predator movies came up with an inspired answer — sending the eponymous alien anti-villain to earth in the distant past. Similarly, after Terminator: Rise of the Machines, Terminator: Genisys, and Terminator: Dark Fate all retold the John/Sarah Connor saga in various different ways, the next sequel in the Terminator series should break up this monotony by sending a T-800 back further than ever before. Whether this means the cyborg assassin arrives before Sarah’s birth to terrorize her parents, before the Connor clan even began, or to any other time period, the idea would at least give the Terminator series an original perspective.
Many of the Terminator franchise’s failed attempts to revive interest in the series have their roots in a failure to think outside of the existing storyline. Terminator: Salvation’s original hero Marcus Wright was an intriguing character (a sympathetic, near-human Terminator), but this was largely lost when the sequel beefed up John Connor’s role in the movie because he was the franchise’s best-known existing character. Taking a genuine risk like Prey’s decision to pull its story all the way back to 1719 would allow the Terminator series to break this repetitive cycle and offer a new angle for the series.
However, it is unlikely that the next Terminator installment will head back in time without the safety blanket of the Connor family’s presence in the plot. From Terminator: Genisys recasting Sarah Connor to Terminator: Dark Fate writing an entire new timeline but still centering it around John and Sarah, the Terminator series has repeatedly proven that the franchise can’t picture a future without the Connors. As such, saving the Terminator franchise may remain frustratingly out of reach for the series going forward. If Terminator 7 does want a genuinely fresh take on the Terminator mythos, however, the producers need look no further than Prey’s daring reinvention of the Predator franchise.