The Predator was also a woman. Will “Badlands” with Fanning replace the hit with Schwarzenegger?

This might be a reboot of the series, so it could also be a partial remake of Predator, John McTiernan’s cult hit with Arnold. How it will ultimately look will likely become clear when we see the teaser, and the first campaign information is released online. The concepts may still change many times. The film will be directed by Dan Trachtenberg, the creator of Prey, and the main role will be played by Elle Fanning. And that’s precisely the whole problem. In Prey, it was Amber Midthunder—a woman—but it was a prequel. No one touched the sanctity of the iconic Arnold Schwarzenegger. Elle Fanning is also a woman, and on top of that, a blonde, which will undoubtedly further provoke some internet users, and for this, she will appear as the protagonist of Badlands. I assume the main one. All this was enough to cause a wave of mindless criticism to roll through the internet like an incel steamroller, proclaiming some new devastating end of the world for humanity. And it’s just the gender of the actor that has changed. We know little else about the project.

I deliberately used the term “replace” because in incel circles, both formal and those merely imitating them, there is always talk of some substitution of cultural goods, which are being taken away, appropriated, destroyed, etc., by mysterious progressive forces aiming to destroy the world—of course, the masculine version. It’s quite similar with Predator. Prey passed, although the protagonist was a woman, but Trachtenberg didn’t directly attack the iconic original. Now, I’m also not sure if that will happen because I haven’t found any direct statements that the series will be restarted, and McTiernan’s production will be remade. Besides, if some mysterious corporate force conspiring against men defending their masculinity really wanted to take away their beloved Predator, it would censor it, limit access to it, or even conduct some campaign that it’s a bad film. The very idea of making even a remake is not an appropriation, seizure, or corruption of the idea, because no one is forcing viewers to watch it. The problem lies rather in the fear that this remake might actually turn out to be good, and there’s even a slim chance that for some viewers, it might become more cult than the one from 1987. I sincerely doubt that, but that changes nothing—I don’t intend to block anyone’s creative freedom just because of my opinion, justifying it by the actor’s gender, which also no one has yet announced will be the main one, like Schwarzenegger once was.

I now recall my review of Prey and the fact that I clearly conveyed to the readers that the chance for good action cinema in the Predator universe was wasted. However, it wasn’t about the actress, but about the predator, whose character was written poorly and illogically, and too obviously. It is very difficult to step out of certain habits, trained reactions, and cognitive clichés, which is why the issue of the main character’s gender even appeared in the media space. We have become culturally accustomed to it being a man, strong as a titan, unwavering, archetypal, endowed with a divine masculine element according to our post-Roman culture. If it were post-Egyptian and post-Slavic, we might think somewhat differently globally, but we have tied ourselves to the otherwise formally beautiful muscles of Schwarzenegger and cannot free ourselves from them mentally. And on top of that, as I mentioned at the beginning, Elle Fanning is blonde, and the hate is ready. I have never hidden that I love McTiernan’s production. And now I have serious doubts whether Badlands will be a good story because some tales, once told, are not suitable for remakes. However, when I see how much fear-driven opposition and disgusting moral hate is poured on Fanning and Trachtenberg, I really want them to even make a 1:1 remake, because I believe that irrational demons, which compel some to compulsively type on the keyboard, should be defeated only in this way—by acting contrary to their whispers, as if they never existed, were worthless air—and this is probably the best way to deal with hate—treat it as non-being.

So, I assure you that nothing will happen to the series when Elle Fanning, an experienced actress in fantasy, appears in it. For obvious reasons, it can no longer be Arnold Schwarzenegger. Seeking a successor by that criterion would be a risky move because any actor of similar appearance would be too exposed to comparisons. The only logical and paradoxically safest way for the Dutch archetype is a woman. Her natural gender difference already brought freshness to the narrative in Prey. In Badlands, Trachtenberg will surely want to shift the timeline of the story again—the question is: in which direction. The present or the future seem best, actually the present. There is also another important argument in favor of a female protagonist—the nature of the Predator species, which is highly anti-patriarchal.

The new Predator must have the force

Predators is a human name, somewhat offensive to this highly developed species. It would be better if we referred to their nation as Hish, or Yautja from the planet which is their home. We know them mainly as hunters, but this is not their national occupation. Only aggressive individuals hunt, which are not so many in the Hish community. Besides, the hunters are castrates, who devote the remnants of their aggression to traveling the galaxy and collecting specimens from other races. Moreover, most of them, if castrated, were by the female part of the community. Yes, because the Predator species is actually ruled by women. They are taller, stronger, but control aggression more perfectly than the castrate hunters. Therefore, they are engaged in developing science and politics. And what now should fans of Arnold do with such xenopedic knowledge? Elle Fanning will fit perfectly into this feminine climate, provided that Dan Trachtenberg proposes something new, some travesty of old motifs, their reinterpretation, but not a safe, franchise-like one as Disney did in the ill-fated Acolyte. The new Predator must have the force of a carpet bombing—only then will it have a chance for success. Otherwise, it will disappear in the multitude of similar stories, told as remakes without respect for the original, and will only be respected if it’s made so controversial that it will be talked about in both the best and worst words. The only chance for the new Predator is the ability to divide the audience, provoke discussion, and opposing opinions. And Fanning certainly has a chance to do that.

Femininity itself is not a threat to the universe. What is dangerous for it is repetitiveness and too broad a target age group, as well as clinging to the immutability of old motifs. If someone dares to criticize the new film solely because of the change in the actor’s gender, they should realize that this criticism carries typical chauvinistic dehumanization, and after all, Arnold Schwarzenegger himself fought such social phenomena throughout his media life. So if the haters value him so much, they should respect the ideas he believes in. Isn’t that obvious? Predator dealt perfectly with such dishonorable deeds. So here’s another argument to give Elle Fanning a chance, such a sharp as a razor acting personality, scoring the weaknesses of male world narratives, for example in The Great and Neon Demon.