Predator: Badlands Shows How Weyland-Yutani Could Have Created The Perfect Xenomorph

Contains spoilers for "Predator: Badlands"

In the "Alien" franchise, the notorious Weyland-Yutani Corporation continues to be devious and underhanded in its quest for corporate supremacy. The fat cats running the show are willing to risk the end of the world as they attempt to control the Xenomorph and maximize profits at the same time. In "Predator: Badlands," Weyland-Yutani is up to its old tricks again, but this time, there's a new target in its sights.

When Dek, the film's Yautja protagonist, lands on the highly dangerous planet Genna, he meets Thia (Elle Fanning), a Weyland-Yutani synthetic. As it turns out, the company has been scouting Genna as well, since it wants to get its hands on the Kalisk, a seemingly indestructible creature and apex predator. Even after Dek cuts off its head, the creature stitches itself back together like some kind of otherworldly T-1000. However, Tessa (also Elle Fanning) and the other synthetics use the Predator's technology to subdue the Kalisk and load it onto a ship. Fortunately, they don't manage to leave Genna with the Kalisk in tow. That could have had disastrous consequences: If the company had succeeded in its mission, it could have created one of the scariest sci-fi villains ever.

Think about this for a second: Weyland-Yutani loves capturing Xenomorphs and studying them to see how far they evolve. Imagine if the company had been successful and put the Kalisk near a Xenomorph, which could have bonded with this creature. As it is, it's already difficult to kill a Xenomorph, but if it possessed Kalisk DNA, that would pretty much make it an invincible killing machine. To quote Hudson (Bill Paxton) from "Aliens," it would be "game over, man!"

Despite the presence of Weyland-Yutani in "Predator: Badlands," the infamous Xenomorph doesn't make an appearance. Speaking to Empire magazine, director Dan Trachtenberg explained why this is the case. "There's no Xenomorph in this movie," he said. "But to me, that makes it more exciting. We're not involving [the 'Alien' franchise] just to smush the action figures together. There are great, organic story reasons for Weyland-Yutani to be in this film."

This makes a lot of sense. While Weyland-Yutani has shown a keen interest in the Xenomorph, it likely has several other interests, too. A creature like the Kalisk is something that would certainly get people talking in the boardroom and have everyone figuring out how they could bring it under the company umbrella. After all, by capturing and studying a seemingly unkillable apex predator, Weyland-Yutani could continue in its quest to create (and sell) the ultimate weapon. It would only be a matter of time before someone recommended combining it with a Xenomorph to see what happened.

Much like in the "Alien" story, the word "consequences" doesn't mean anything to the big wigs at Weyland-Yutani. While the synthetics follow the instructions of MU/TH/UR and use Predator tech to subdue the Kalisk, not a single thought is given to what happens if the Kalisk breaks free on the ship or elsewhere. The cold hard truth is that Weyland-Yutani will never learn its lesson. Instead, it's on a one-way trip to destroying the world because it's blinded by its thirst for profit and power.