Predator: Badlands looks like a hit after it secured the biggest global opening ever for a Predator movie — including the Alien vs. Predator films — at the box office.

Dan Trachtenberg, who revitalized Predator with 2022’s back to basics Prey and this year’s animated anthology Killer of Killer, has continued his hot streak with the PG-13 Predator: Badlands, which has enjoyed strong reviews from critics. (IGN’s Predator: Badlands review returned an 8/10.)

Disney said Predator: Badlands opened to $40 million domestically and $40 million internationally for a global opening weekend total of $80 million. That’s the biggest debut for a Predator movie ever at current rates. For context, 2018’s The Predator opened to $73.5 million.

Predator began with 1987’s much-loved Predator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Predator: Badlands is a very different film; less sci-fi horror, more mainstream sci-fi action. For the first time ever the Predator is the protagonist, with a Yautja called Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) out to prove himself to his father by killing a monster on a death planet. Along the way, he meets a Weyland-Yutani synth called Thia, played by Elle Fanning, in an Alien / Predator crossover.

It's a big swing for Predator and for Dan Trachtenberg, but he was uninterested in essentially remaking prior Predator movies for this new sequel. In a recent interview with IGN, Trachtenberg said he was inspired by Terminator 2 when it came to making Badlands. "Terminator 2: Judgment Day was like a movie my mom could watch," he said. "So that was a part of it for me, like how to make something that was bold and visceral but also emotional."

It’s a strong start, then, and hopefully a sign that Trachtenberg will be able to continue making more Predator movies, fleshing out his fledgling Predator cinematic universe and perhaps making good on that Dutch tease at the end of Killer of Killers. Could we perhaps see an all-star team up at some point?

Certainly, Predator: Badlands sets things up for a direct sequel. Check out IGN’s Predator: Badlands Ending Explained to find out what’s next for the series.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

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Games Workshop has released a teaser trailer for upcoming Warhammer animations, revealing what subscribers to its streaming platform Warhammer Plus can expect in 2026.

There are a number of new animations teased in the video, below, but the one featured most prominently stars the Adepta Sororitas. We see a Battle Sister with a heavy bolter letting rip, with Devora Wilde confirmed to play one of the Battle Sisters. Wilde played Lae'zel in Baldur’s Gate 3, and for me is the perfect fit for the Sisters of Battle.

Elsewhere, there’s an animation that sees the Aeldari (in a post on Warhammer Community, Games Workshop confirmed these are from Saim-Hann, the fastest and among the most warlike of the Craftworlds) going up against the Imperial Navy in aerial battles.

And then perhaps the most exciting tease in the entire video: a Khorne Berzerker from the World Eaters Traitor Legion who is, Games Workshop said, “on the hunt.”

Some fans think this is actually a look at Astartes 2, the most hotly anticipated animation among the fandom. That’s because the Khorne Berzerker’s running style is similar to that we’ve already seen Space Marines perform in the original, much-loved Astartes. The original Astartes was created by superfan Syama Pedersen, who was subsequently brought into the fold to make the official sequel. Is this Khorne Berzerker from an entirely different animation, or Astartes 2?

Lieutenant Titus from Space Marine 2 has become one of the most recognizable faces in all Warhammer 40,000 following the enormous success of the video game. We’ve already seen Games Workshop double-down on the Ultramarines hero with merch, an appearance in the Warhammer 40,000 episode of Amazon's animated anthology, Secret Level, and various cameos across the setting. But now things have leveled up — not just for Titus as a Space Marine, but his place in the ongoing Warhammer 40,000 narrative.

This week, Games Workshop unveiled Captain Demetrian Titus, Master of the Watch, which means Titus has had a much-deserved promotion since the now canon events of Space Marine 2 and Secret Level. Titus is once again Captain of the Ultramarines Second Company, a position he had already held before he was taken into custody on suspicion of heresy by the Inquisition after the events of the first Space Marine game. What does Titus' promotion mean for Sevastus Acheran, the former captain of the Second Company and Master of the Watch who we see in Space Marine 2? Let’s be real here: he’s probably dead. I guess he couldn’t spare enough men.

For Titus, his promotion comes with bigger and tougher responsibilities: he’s been put in charge of defending the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar, the realm of Space Marine poster boys, the Ultramarines. With Primarch Roboute Guilliman off gallivanting with his Indomitus Crusade, Titus is now in charge of keeping things safe and sound back home, where new Necron threats have emerged, as they always do.

Games Workshop released a new trailer, below, to hype up this narrative expansion, and it features Titus front and center as he accepts his new job title and what he calls his “impossible mission.” He’s had an eye-catching glow up since we last saw him, and he has a cool new model for use in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game to boot. Titus is joined by friends his fans will know well: Ancient Gadriel from Space Marine 2, and Veteran Sergeant Metaurus from Secret Level (he lives!).

500 Worlds: Titus is the name for the next major narrative expansion for Warhammer 40,000. According to a post on Warhammer Community, that includes a set of four books that will tell the story of the Ultramarian Reclamation and the embattled Vespator Front, where Titus and the Ultramarines Second Company "are locked in a desperate struggle against a Necron force rife with the Destroyer curse."

This is a big moment for Titus but also the Space Marine video game franchise. It is evidence of the importance of the character to Warhammer 40,000, and the seismic impact Space Marine 2 has had on the setting.

Speaking to IGN at gamescom 2025, Tim Willits, development chief at Saber Interactive, said Space Marine 2’s popularity had opened the door to the grimdark Warhammer 40,000 setting for an army of new fans who weren't necessarily clued up about the intricacies of the universe.

“I heard that lots of people now think that Thousand Sons are the only Chaos faction because that's what we had in the game,” Willits said, reflecting on Space Marine 2’s first year.

“And so people are like, ‘Oh, I guess Thousand Sons, they're Chaos.’ It's like, ‘Actually no it's not.’ They're actually just a small faction. But people are just like, ‘That's the one I played against.’”

This assumption about Chaos extends to the Space Marines themselves. The Ultramaines — the chapter used by Games Workshop itself when introducing newcomers to the tabletop via starter sets — are the protagonists of the Space Marine 2 campaign, although many other factions are available to play as in the PvE and PvP modes.

“People have assumptions about the Warhammer 40,000 universe that are not correct,” Willits continued. “Like Thousand Sons being the only Chaos faction. That is kind of humorous. And like, ‘Oh Space Marines are only blue!’ That has been quite humorous to be honest, which is good for us.”

One of the big questions going into the already confirmed Space Marine 3 is whether Saber will venture beyond the Ultramarines and the Thousand Sons in terms of the next campaign. The story seems to set up the addition of the Necrons, which at this point probably wouldn't come as much of a surprise for Space Marine 3. But could other Space Marine chapters also appear? Perhaps other Chaos factions, too? We asked Willits about Space Marine 3, but he remained tight-lipped.

But now Titus is firmly back in the fold, we have to wonder, what does the overly suspicious Chaplain Leandros think? He spent pretty much the entirety of Space Marine 2 threatening to end poor Titus at the first sign of corruption, and even after Titus’ heroics, a commendation from Chapter Master Marneus Calgar, and what some think was a word of encouragement from the Emperor himself, Leandros remained unconvinced. If Titus manages to complete this impossible task and defend the 500 worlds, will he finally win Leandros over? Somehow I doubt it.

All of this probably feeds into Space Marine 3 in some way. Assuming Space Marine 3 picks up after the events of 500 Worlds, we may well see Titus lead armies into battle, rather than a single squad.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.