Check out the hunter (and the hunted) in these exclusive images from The Predator

An image of Boyd Holbrook in The Predator

The Predator will always hold a place in the pantheon of the most badass movie aliens, but the ultimate hunter hasn’t really been done justice in its most recent movie outings (the Vs movies giving both Alien and Predator a credibility hit), so it’s reassuring that the upcoming sequel has a strong link to the franchise’s past: Shane Black.

The writer/director, most recently known for Iron Man 3 and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, played soldier Hawkins in the 1987 original, starring opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger. And from the footage we’ve seen so far, The Predator will feature Black’s trademark humorous streak, as well as some distinctly R-rated violence.

You can take a closer look at the hunter (and the hunted) in some exclusive shots courtesy of our sister publication Total Film magazine, who met Black and his cast on set during filming. Below you’ll see one of the Predators, as well as Boyd Holbrook’s Quinn McKenna, a veteran at the centre of the story.

An image of a Predator from The Predator — (Image credit: 20th Century Fox)

“Even though some of the iconography’s been lost, there’s something very special still about the Predator,” Black tells Total Film inside the new issue. “When I saw it in the room, I thought, ‘Oh, fuck, this is up to me now. I better make sure I bring my game here.’”

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The premise is certainly a doozy, with multiple Preds coming to Earth, along side a genetically-modified supersized specimen. “There’s a group of rogue Predators on Predator world,” explains Black of the plot. “They’re not happy that they send their champions to Earth, and they never come home. This has ruffled feathers over the years to the point where there’s a group of Predators who aren’t above punching back by incorporating characteristics from other species they’ve hunted to breed an ultimate assassin.” Sign us up, we’re there.

For much more from the set of The Predator, pick up a copy of the latest issue of Total Film magazine – fronted by Venom and a huge comic book movie preview – when it hits shelves August 24, 2018. Or why not subscribe so you never miss an issue?

Sign up via My Favourite Magazines, and you won’t even have to leave your house to receive the magazine each month. You’ll get it before it hits shelves, you’ll get an exclusive subscriber cover (check out this month's below), and you’ll save money on the cover price. What’s not to like?

Total Film magazine's exclusive Venom subscriber cover

Matt Maytum is the former Editor of Total Film magazine. Over the past decade, Matt has worked in various roles for TF online and in print, including at GamesRadar+. Bucket-list-ticking career highlights have included reporting from the set of Tenet and Avengers: Infinity War, as well as covering Comic-Con, TIFF and the Sundance Film Festival.