The following contains major spoilers for Predator #1, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
In the past year, Marvel Comics has unveiled some truly terrifying new layers of the Predator universe. This makes it all the more surprising that they have now brought readers back to an eerily familiar setting. Not only has the latest entry into the series made no effort to hide the fact that it is retreading the franchise's worst film, but it has also embraced that reality wholeheartedly, and it may have even managed to fix everything wrong with its predecessor because of it.
Predator #1 (by Ed Brisson, Netho Diaz, Belardino Brabo, Victor Nava, Erick Arciniega, and VC's Clayton Cowles) picks up on an unnamed jungle where an eclectic group of humans is desperately trying to escape a largely unseen assailant. Though several lose their lives along the way, eight manage to flee into a cave. There they discover that almost all of them have come from not just different backgrounds, but different points in time as well. Of course, they don't have much time to figure out the situation at hand before the Predator is upon them once more. However, they have enough information to realize that they are the latest victims in a game on one of the universe's deadliest hunting preserves.
How Marvel's Predator Fixes the 2010 FIlm
This setup is almost identical to that of 2010's Predators starring Adrien Brody and Alice Braga. In the film, a group of soldiers, mercenaries, and killers are brought to a preserve almost identical to that of the comic to be hunted by the Yautja. The similarities run even deeper than that, with survivors in each story trying to figure out what it is they are up against. Even the concept of three featured Predators lines up, but there is one key difference that sets the two apart.
Despite receiving generally favorable reviews, 2010's Predators suffered frequent criticisms regarding the handling of its characters. Though the primary cast each had their own unique background and methodology, few of them were given a chance to come into their own as fully developed figures. This makes it difficult to empathize with many of the characters on screen, which in turn cut down on much of the tension that the original 1987 film was praised for. While this isn't necessarily untrue of the latest Predator comic, especially in its first issue, there is one character who ensures that both the interpersonal and battlefield tension will stay as high as possible.
Marvel's Predators are About to Become Prey
First appearing in 2022's Predator #1 (by Ed Brisson and Kev Walker), Theta was the sole survivor of a Yautja attack that left her orphaned at a young age. Over the years, her hatred for the eponymous hunters drove her to scour the galaxy for every bit of information she could find regarding her enemies. Along the way, Theta learned to incorporate the Yautja's own technology, weapons, and tactics into her arsenal. Eventually, Theta became so much of a threat that the Yautja were forced to alter their hunting methods in a bid to protect themselves. And, not even after realizing that they had become prey were the Predators able to stop the onslaught that was headed their way.
With Theta leading the hunt for their hunters, the rest of Predator's cast have more than a fighting chance, they have an opportunity to develop that most characters in their position wouldn't otherwise. By joining forces with Theta, they will likely have the means by which to tell their own stories and become a more important part of hers than merely another poor soul who doesn't know it is already lost. Hopefully, that will be enough to see at least a handful of them make it out alive.