Comics
‘Predator: Badlands’ Prequel Comic Publishing This Week from Marvel
Marvel will publish Predator: Badlands #1, a prequel to the new film created in collaboration with director Dan Trachtenberg, this Wednesday, November 12.
The story follows a young Yautja warrior 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…
The comic is written by Ethan Sacks (Star Wars: Bounty Hunters) with pencils by Elvin Ching (The Woodsman), inks by Oren Junior, and coloring by Juancho Velez.
Predator: Badlands #1 features a main cover by Juan Ferreyra, a movie poster variant cover, and a variant cover by CAFU. All three are pictured below.
“Our story directly ties into Dek’s journey in the film, and I approached it in a similar way to how I approached Old Man Hawkeye, the prequel to Old Man Logan,” Sacks tells IGN. “I wanted the story to feel like a unique and interesting puzzle piece that could slide right in and connect seamlessly with the beloved original.”
Predator: Badlands opened at #1 at the box office this weekend with $40 million in the United States, the highest opening weekend in the franchise’s history.
In the film, set in the future on a remote planet, a young Predator, outcast from his clan, finds an unlikely ally in Thia and embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary.
Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi star. Patrick Aison (Prey) and Brian Duffield (Love and Monsters, No One Will Save You) penned the script.
Meagan Navarro wrote in her review, “Trachtenberg and his talented team craft a stunning adventure epic with winsome characters, action, and creatures, but one that’s so drastically different that it’s polarizing.”
The supernatural world of Korean folk horror movie Exhuma grows larger with the arrival of prequel spinoff webtoon Maengjong this weekend, Variety reports today.
Naver Webtoon debuts Maengjong on May 30.
The series hails from Haemuri (Olgami) and will trace the high school origins of how shaman duo Hwarim and Bonggil, played by Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun in the 2024 film, came together to face occultish threats.
The story is set to begin when “Hwarim, who has been concealing her identity following a childhood encounter with a snake spirit called Jin, crosses paths with Bonggil at their school.”
Variety notes that Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun participated in the project’s early concept stage.
“We are presenting ‘Maengjong,’ a new series capturing the appeal of the horror-occult genre, ahead of the full summer season,” said Lee Jeong-geun, Naver Webtoon’s Korea webtoon content leader. “With the high school story of Hwarim and Bonggil, who left a strong impression in the film ‘Exhuma,’ enhanced by Haemuri’s characteristic tense direction, we expect it will be a welcome work for genre fans.”
“It is meaningful that the spin-off story of ‘Exhuma,’ loved by many audiences, expands by meeting the new grammar of webtoon,” said Lee Hyeon-jeong, managing director of the film business division at Showbox, which distributed the film. “We hope it will be a fresh experience for both film fans and webtoon readers.”
Exhuma was a breakout hit in 2024, becoming the first Korean occult film to surpass 10 million ticket buyers and the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. I wrote in my review that “the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.”
The bond between Hwarim and Bonggil was one of the film’s highlights, making this prequel webtoon a must for fans.
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