Predator: Badlands - The Mandalorian-Like Movie You Didn'...

Disney Has Secretly Released A Mandalorian Movie

Din Djarin and Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) in The Mandalorian

By Sean Morrison Published 35 minutes ago Sean is a senior writer for ScreenRant and has been writing about new TV releases since December 2023. He has received multiple advance screenings of popular shows and ideated his own coverage read by hundreds of thousands of readers. Sean is a self-published author of a Western novel. Sean has also written award-winning opinion pieces related to local politics while getting his Bachelor's degree in journalism. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Even though The Mandalorian and Grogu is still months away, Disney has already released a secret Mandalorian movie: Predator: Badlands. While The Mandalorian and Grogu's May 22, 2026 release date is fast approaching, we haven't seen much from The Mandalorian in a while. It's been nearly two years since the ending of The Mandalorian season 3, and The Mandalorian season 4 is still nowhere to be found.

Even though we haven't seen Din Djarin and Grogu in a long time, that doesn't mean Disney has forgotten about them entirely. In fact, Disney secretly released a movie that seems heavily inspired by The Mandalorian, and it hid it in a completely different science fiction franchise. While you're waiting for The Mandalorian and Grogu, you can pass the time with Predator: Badlands.

Predator: Badlands Feels Like A Mandalorian Movie

Predator Badlands' Yautja Dek and his android companion hang from a cliff

While they're obviously not part of the same franchise, Predator: Badlands feels like what a Mandalorian movie should be. It's actually remarkable how similar they are. Both Dek and Din Djarin come from deeply traditional clans that value strength and warfare above all else. Both fight giant alien monsters with an assortment of cool weapons, including a laser sword, and both even have empathetic sidekicks they carry with them.

Almost every part of The Mandalorian has a parellel in Predator: Badlands. Thia is Bo-Katan Kryze, Bud is Grogu, and the Kalisk is essentially the Mythosaur. Even thematically, both are about their protagonist learning to be more sensitive and embrace friendship. There are some differences, especially in Din and Dek's motivations and a few twists, but the similarities are plain to see. Badlands is essentially a longer episode of The Mandalorian with a few details remixed.

I mean that literally, too. Imagine an episode of The Mandalorian where the Armorer tasks Din with slaying a Krayt Dragon to prove his worth to the rest of the Children of the Watch. That's essentially the plot of Predator: Badlands, just Mad-Lib out the proper names. The ending of Predator: Badlands even introduced a way to turn it into as big of a mini-franchise for Predator as The Mandalorian is for Star Wars.

Predator: Badlands and The Mandalorian also appeal to the exact same sensibilities. Both of them are fusions of the action-adventure and science fiction genres, both are reinterpretations of classic and beloved franchises, and both revitalized their respective intellectual properties. In broad strokes, Predator: Badlands is exactly the type of action-packed, adventurous sci-fi romp that The Mandalorian and Grogu should strive to be.

The Mandalorian And Predator: Badlands Draw Inspiration From Similar Sources

Din Djarin and Grogu sitting in the cockpit of an N-1 Starfighter in The Mandalorian

The similarities between The Mandalorian and Predator: Badlands don't end at the text itself. They also took inspiration from similar sources like video games. Dan Trachtenberg, the director of Badlands, said that the movie was inspired by the video game Shadow of the Colosus. Jon Favreau, the creator of The Mandalorian, said he was partially inspired by Star Wars video games and even used Unreal Engine to create settings for the show.

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Both shows were also influenced fairly clearly by Westerns and sci-fi. Trachtenberg said that Badlands was inspired by the likes of Clint Eastwood and Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (via Bloody Disgusting). Likewise, Favreau outright said that Din Djarin was inspired by Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name from the Dollars trilogy (via Entertainment Weekly). Badlands and The Mandalorian are literally cut from the same cloth.

More broadly, Predator: Badlands and The Mandalorian also took similar approaches to telling new stories in established franchises. Favreau mentioned that he wasn't inspired by other Star Wars stories as much as he was by Westerns and samurai movies, the same way George Lucas was. Likewise, Trachtenberg likely wasn't inspired by other Predator movies, and both of them created stories that are markedly different from the rest of their franchises.

Predator: Badlands Is A Welcome Change To The Predator Formula

Dek holding a weapon in Predator: Badlands

Yet another thing that ties Predator: Badlands to The Mandalorian is how it changed its franchise. The Mandalorian was groundbreaking for Star Wars. It ushered in the age live-action Star Wars shows, it made Mandalorians more popular than they had been since before Disney purchased the franchise, and it was completely different from every other Star Wars project to date.

Predator: Badlands is the same way. It was the first story to position Yautja as heroes instead of villains, it leaned much more into the action side of things than previous more horror-focused installments, and it's continuing a revival of Predator as a franchise. Plus, Badlands was just a very welcome change to the Predator formula, much like The Mandalorian was to the Star Wars formula.

Predator Projects Released By Disney

Predator

Prey

Predator: Killer of Killers

Predator: Badlands

Previous Predator movies have all been about a villainous Yautja hunting down humans (or, occasionally, Xenomorphs) and eventually getting killed themselves. Badlands, however, completely flips that script by making a Yautja a hero. It made Badlands feel fresh and exciting, and it turned Badlands from a rehashing of the same story we've been getting for the past 40 years into a surprisingly good action thriller.

Likewise, The Mandalorian bucked the grand fight between the dark and light sides of the Force, the Jedi and the Sith, and the Empire versus the Rebellion (for the most part). Instead of being part of a sweeping saga, The Mandalorian felt like a fun "monster of the week" adventure, which was exactly what Disney needed to revitalize Star Wars after The Rise of Skywalker. Hopefully, Predator: Badlands will continue to follow The Mandalorian's lead.

Movies
Predator: Badlands
The Mandalorian and Grogu

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