Predator: Badlands Recruited A Star Trek Veteran For A Key Creative Role

"Predator: Badlands" changed the sci-fi action universe forever, including having the franchise's first Yautja protagonist. Since Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) features in nearly every scene, he couldn't just be Silent Bob and observe everything around him; he needed to communicate too. Resultantly, the Yautja language becomes a major component of the movie.

To bring this to life, "Predator: Badlands" director Dan Trachtenberg brought in linguist Britton Watkins to create this entirely new vocabulary. Watkins is no stranger to alien speech, having previously developed the Klingon dialect for J. J. Abrams' "Star Trek Into Darkness." While not the actual creator of the Klingon language in "Star Trek," he helped refine it for the sequel in the Abramsverse.

While forming the Yautja communication for "Badlands," Watkins accepted that there would be similarities between it and Klingon for a simple reason: The human players. "I didn't channel anything about Klingon grammar or anything else," he told /Film. "[The languages] needed to be close to each other, but again, with any kind of language that's going to be spoken, a lot of that language is going to be spoken by human actors and you're going to end up with vowel sounds that overlap."

Apart from the linguistic connection of Britton Watkins, the Yautja and Klingon share another major similarity: They're both driven by a warrior code. In "Star Trek," the Klingon are revered as a lethal but determined species. They believe strongly in their values — namely honor and tradition — and aren't afraid to fight for them, welcoming battle from all who oppose their way of life.

The Yautja follows the same principle. Their rite of passage involves proving themselves on the hunting ground by claiming a trophy kill, establishing their worth to their clan. However, they're also creatures of honor, accepting defeat if others best them in combat. While the "Predator" franchise has crossed over with Marvel and "Alien," it has yet to collide with "Star Trek." The Klingon and Yautja facing off to determine the most dangerous species in the universe could be a money idea — just imagine seeing a Yautja pick a fight with Worf from "Star Trek."