Since we are severely depleting the subject matter to discuss on this forum, here is one I thought makes perfect sense and strangely should be debated and affectionately talked about.
Our focus today is a re-examination of the film Predators. Its diverse cast of unrelated strangers, marooned in an alien landscape, immediately presents a fascinating mismatch, leading to confusion over individual identities. I’ve playfully termed this a “Yautja Variety Show,” akin to a teen-horror setup but featuring adults.
This dynamic, fueled by the overarching existential threat of “The BEYOND,” increasingly places organizations like Stargazer and OWLF at the forefront of the franchise’s lore. The concept’s inherent adaptability makes it a “holy grail” for television, allowing for multiple, distinct narratives within a single season. This flexibility is particularly appealing to smaller studios, enabling various self-contained arcs within one season. Its efficiency, with short, self-contained “one-hour slots” rather than continuous timelines, offers a unique model for developing franchises on TV.
While the film’s characters often have military backgrounds, their diversity creates a profound division within the Stargazer/OWLF narrative, revealing two core archetypes: “Navigators” and “Killers.” Navigators are stealthy escape artists, perceptive survivors defined by evasion. Conversely, Killers represent pure destructive force, driven solely by annihilation—the true “predators” among the hunted. This dichotomy could inspire series titles like Predator: Navigator.
The Yautja serve as the mysterious orchestrators. A crucial question arises: why would the ostensibly principled Stargazers recruit military personnel, while the heroic OWLF enlist cold-blooded assassins? Drawing from Predator: Hunting Grounds lore (Stargazers pursuing ancient tech, OWLF acting protectively), a theory emerges. Stargazers likely enlisted military experts for knowledge or power, while OWLF, desperate to thwart them, resorted to ruthless killers and morally compromised tactics. In a tragic irony, both organizations, believing they were protecting humanity, made profoundly regrettable decisions.
This distinction could define the Predators film timeline (where OWLF’s methods might have been questionable and Stargazers sought direct help) versus the PHG timeline (the present day). Unlike underfunded government groups like OWLF, the wealthy Stargazers could afford significant resources. This suggests the film’s military personnel might be driven by financial gain, a currently unexamined mystery in the franchise.
When you think about it, Dutches team falls inline with a crew of people being hired for financial gain by the OWLF. In a twist of direction, the killers in Predators might have been enlisted by OWLF to gain more traction and them being cost effective and the military types were hired by Stargazer because they could afford them.
Could this be a Hyperdyne vs Weyland Yutani mentality?
