Warning: This article contains spoilers.
Now streaming on Hulu, director Dan Trachtenberg‘s Prey takes the Predator franchise back to its roots, opting for a lean action horror movie set in the wilderness. The story takes place in the Comanche Nation in 1719, where Naru (Amber Midthunder) seeks to prove her worth and protect her people after discovering a highly-evolved predator hunting their lands.
Along the way, Prey includes a plethora of nods to the franchise through iconic lines of dialogue, set pieces, and Easter eggs. Let’s take a look at the most notable connections.
The Easter Egg Connection to Predator 2.
The most notable Easter egg found in Prey is the “Raphael Adolini 1715” antique flintlock pistol from Predator 2.
Predator 2 sees its alien hunter use 1997 Los Angeles as its hunting ground, only to finally be thwarted by protagonist Lieutenant Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover). In the climactic showdown, Harrigan tracks the injured Predator to an underground spacecraft and finishes the kill. Then, a group of different Predators appear, retrieving the body of their fallen comrade.
They acknowledge Harrigan as a worthy hunter, and one of them presents Harrigan with a trophy for his kill. It’s the above-mentioned Raphael Adolini gun from 1715.
In Prey, Naru gets captured by French fur trappers. Among them is translator Raphael Adolini (Bennett Taylor). The group’s attempts to get information on the Predator from Naru and subsequently use her as bait fail, resulting in most of their deaths. In the aftermath, Naru discovers a wounded Raphael, who gives her his pistol in exchange for medical treatment.
Within this callback to Predator 2 is another; Naru gives Raphael the Orange Totsiyaa flower, which lowers his body temperature, as the mud did for Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) in 1987’s Predator. Naru observes as the Predator overlooks Raphael, unable to detect his cooler temperature… until stepping on his wounded leg.
That End Credits Scene Explained.
Prey‘s animated end credits sequence later explains how the Predators came into possession of Raphael Adolini’s pistol. After recapping the film’s events, the final animated scene sees Predator ships emerging from the sky, right above the Comanche tribe. It’s not difficult to further tie this back to Predator 2, in which they’ve come to retrieve the body of their fallen, therefore removing all trace of its existence from Earth; and they presumably left without harming Naru or her people. She emerged the stronger hunter, after all, which the Predators are likely to respect.
Naru delivers the pistol and the Predator’s head to her tribe elders in the final moments of Prey, so it makes sense that both get passed on to the Predators from the sky.
The more intriguing question is what trophy would they have bestowed upon Naru in exchange for her kill? Some of their advanced Predator technology, perhaps?
The Callbacks to 1987’s Predator.
Prey also repurposes two of the original film’s most iconic lines. While held in captivity by the trappers, Naru tells her older brother Taabe (Dakota Beavers) that she doesn’t know if the Predator can be killed. His response, “If it bleeds, we can kill it,” echoes Dutch’s sentiments from the first movie. Later, Naru channels Dutch in her final confrontation, baiting the creature into her trap with his iconic line, “Do it! Do it now!”
This climactic battle takes place in a sinking mud pit discovered earlier by Naru, where she narrowly escaped. Midhunter previously shared with us how dealing with the mud pit was physically grueling and putrid. It’s another parallel to the original; Predator’s Dutch discovers the alien’s inability to detect cooler temperatures after getting covered in mud.
Sonny Landham in 1987’s ‘Predator’
One of the most subtle callbacks involves Taabe. The fur trappers cut Taabe’s chest with a knife to get Naru to cooperate. It’s a direct visual nod to Predator‘s tracker Billy Sole (Sonny Landham), who cuts his chest with a knife when he stays behind to take on the Predator himself. The film never shows us this fight, though. In an interview with Empire Magazine, per AvPGalaxy, Trachtenberg revealed that not seeing Billy’s final stand was a direct inspiration for Prey.
The tribe member that shushes Naru in the field as the Predator is pursuing them? Another nod to the 1987 film. This moment emulates the scene where Mac (Bill Duke) grabs Dillon (Carl Weathers), pulls him into the bush, and quiets him. He points out the Predator, but his attempts to outsmart the alien end when the iconic three-pointed laser locks onto his forehead.
Harlan Kywayhat as Itsee in 20th Century Studios’ PREY, exclusively on Hulu. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
The Raphael Adolini pistol from Predator 2 takes center stage as the most significant reference, but Trachtenberg pays tribute to Predator with no shortage of callbacks and subtle recreations.
Did you spot any other Prey Easter eggs or connections? Comment below and let us know.
The post ‘Prey’: ‘Predator’ Franchise Connections and Mid-Credits Moment Explained [Spoilers] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.