The Predator franchise has been hard at work trying to find an angle that works. Every sequel tried something a little bit different, but none of them appeared to find purchase. The first great film in the franchise since its beginning in 1987 finally dropped, and it has a suggestion for the future of the series.
Prey works for a lot of reasons, but the idea of a prequel that depicts the first encounter between humans and Yautja was an inspired premise. Since the original film, the franchise has only moved forward in time, so the idea of doing period Predator movies opens a lot of interesting possibilities.
So far, only a handful of Yautja has made their way to Earth in canon. There have been hints that their interaction with mankind dated back to the distant past, but Prey offers a definitive answer to the species' first landing on Earth. Fans now know that the first encounter occurred in the Great Plains area of what would later become the United States in the year 1719. As far as fans know, their next appearance was in the 80s, in Guatemala. A few years later, one popped up in Los Angeles. Gary Busey's character has an unhinged rant in which he mentions Iwo Jima, Beirut, and Cambodia, but it's never clear if Yautja actually landed there. Finally, in 2018, one Predator made landfall in Mexico and a second pursued it to Earth to hunt it down. There's plenty of great human history between 1719 and 1987 for these monsters to make their mark on.
The Golden Age of Piracy
Fans may have noticed the payoff for the unusual ending of Predator 2 in the conclusion of Prey. Naru's pistol, given to her by a dying translator after the Yautja's violent rampage, is engraved with the name Raphael Adolini. Danny Glover's character received that flintlock pistol as a reward after he defeated the City Hunter that was terrorizing LA in 1990. Prey's depiction of how that gun came to be so important is exciting and well-handled, but it isn't the one that the franchise went with in the past. A previous comic book series introduced the original Raphael Adolini, a pirate captain who had to do battle with a mutinous crew. A Yautja noticed his plight and fought back to back with the swashbuckler before a hidden assassin shot Raphael down. Robbed of the challenge it sought, the Predator took Raphael's gun as a trophy.
The most commonly cited dates for the golden age of piracy suggest that it ended around 1726. That's seven years after the Yautja established first contact. This means that fans could finally see what a Predator is capable of on the high seas. It wouldn't need to be an adaptation of the comic series, but people love pirates. This also offers the opportunity to play with a bit more humor in the franchise. Pirates are a fun mixed bag, and watching them struggle to use drunken wit to do battle with a vastly superior foe could be a delight.
Early 1960s Japan
The Predator has always had a connection to Native Americans. It truly began with Billy Sole in the first film, the only man willing to put down his gun and face the Yautja in an honorable duel. However, Billy wasn't the only person to make that fateful decision. In the 2010 film Predators, a crew of Earth's most lethal warriors found themselves shanghaied to an outer space game reserve to serve as prey. The lone honorable warrior of that group was Hanzo, an enforcer for the Inagawa-kai yakuza organization. Perhaps his people should get a showcase against a Yautja in much the same way that Billy's did.
Despite what the Yakuza game franchise might suggest, the heyday of the yakuza was the early 60s. This concept could work any time between the end of World War II and the modern day, but the idea of the Predator taking on organized crime is a solid one. The yakuza were notable for a variety of criminal acts, but they're also a central fixture of Japanese action films. Whether the film chooses a realistic take or treats it like a bombastic martial arts film, Predator vs. yakuza is worth a full feature.
The Vietnam War
Like most fiction of the 80s, the Predator is deeply connected to the war in Vietnam. The squadron who did battle in Guatemala were all veterans of that particular conflict. It's simultaneously a rebuke and a celebration of the war. Dealing with the canon might be complex, but, perhaps throwing a Yautja into the mix of one of the nastiest battles in human history could make for a fascinating war horror film. The relationship between US military force and insurgent militants as it interacts with the Predator's hunter culture has been a recurring theme. It might get slightly hectic, but Full Metal Jacket by way of Predator could be a solid film.