BADLANDS #1, Marvel’s movie tie-in from Ethan Sacks and Elvin Ching

Movie tie-in comics might feel like more and more of a lost art, but Predator comics are always popular. It’s in that spirit that Marvel has provided The Beat with a preview of Predator: Badlands #1 from writer Ethan Sacks and artist Elvin Ching. The comic serves as  prequel to the upcoming movie of the same name, directed by Dan Trachtenberg, who will provide an introduction for the comic.

The film, which will star Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, is set for a theatrical release on Nov. 7 — five days before the release of Predator: Badlands #1 hits comic shops. The movie centers on an outcast Predator named Dek who finds himself in an unlikely alliance with a human woman on an alien world.

“For a writer who grew up a lifelong fan of the Predator franchise, there is no bigger game than the chance to hunt with the Yautja,” Sacks said in a statement. “Working hand in hand with the filmmakers behind Predator: Badlands, we made sure this prequel story fits into the cinematic saga like a puzzle piece. It’s going to give fans a deeper, richer experience – especially when they get to feast their eyes on Elvin Ching’s art.”

“Badlands is the first Predator movie to draw inspiration so heavily from the comic books. So it’s with great delight that you and I now get to look at splash pages, from the minds of Ethan and Elvin, of a formative adventure for our characters that serves as a perfect companion to the film,” Trachtenberg added. “Dek kicking ass in his very own comic book is a dream come true.”

That is only partially true, of course, as there were not one but two Alien vs. Predator movies, which were inspired pretty heavily by Dark Horse’s years of successful AvP comics. Still, Predator: Badlands is the seventh standalone Predator feature film (and the only solo film to draw heavily from the comics, which is likely what he meant). Trachtenberg also directed Prey and the animated film Predator: Killer of Killers, and has said that his plan is to direct the next film in the franchise as well, provided Badlands does well enough that 20th Century Studios still wants him to.

You can see the preview pages — along with a main cover by Juan Ferreyra, a variant by Carlos Alberto Fernández Urbano (CAFU), and a photo cover from the movie — below, followed by the official solicitation text for the release.

“The official prequel, done in collaboration with director Dan Trachtenberg, to the new, eagerly anticipated film, Predator: Badlands, is here! A young Yautja warrior is given a seemingly simple task by his father: Retrieve a piece of technology from a derelict spaceship that crashed years ago. Inside, however, an ancient and deadly threat lies in wait. Now the Predator will become the prey…”

Predator: Badlands #1 is coming to comic shops on Nov. 12.