Predator Movies in Order: Release and Chronological Guide

Quick answer: The best way to watch the Predator movies for the first time is release order. Start with Predator (1987), then follow the franchise as it expands from a jungle hunt to Los Angeles, the Alien crossovers, other planets, earlier periods of human history and finally the future-set Predator: Badlands. The two Alien vs. Predator films are optional, but they are most useful after Predator 2.

If you only want the main Predator line, use this shorter route: Predator → Predator 2 → Predators → The Predator → Prey → Predator: Killer of Killers → Predator: Badlands. Release order preserves the franchise’s reveals and keeps the shifting continuity easier to follow than a forced timeline.

Predator movies in release order

This is the recommended first-time path. It lets the original films establish the hunter before the crossovers widen the playground, and it saves the historical experiments in Prey and Killer of Killers until their ideas can land with the right context.

1. Predator (1987)

The cleanest starting point is still the leanest film. Dutch and his military rescue team enter a Central American jungle expecting a human enemy and discover an extraterrestrial trophy hunter with cloaking technology and a brutal code of its own. The movie explains very little, which is exactly why it works: every new ability feels like a nasty surprise rather than franchise homework.

Watch this first even if you already know the creature’s design. It establishes the heat vision, the hunt and the survival logic that almost every later entry revisits. 20th Century Studios lists its US release date as June 12, 1987.

2. Predator 2 (1990)

The sequel swaps the jungle for a sweltering Los Angeles and follows police lieutenant Mike Harrigan as another Predator cuts through gang warfare and anyone dangerous enough to attract its attention. The change of setting proves the concept can travel, while the trophy-room sequence opens the door to a much larger mythology.

This is the right moment to understand why Alien vs. Predator became a screen crossover. An Alien skull appears among the trophies, but the scene is an Easter egg rather than proof that every later Alien film shares one tidy timeline. The story itself is set in 1997, seven years after the film’s 1990 release.

3. Alien vs. Predator (2004)

Now take the optional detour. A human expedition reaches an ancient pyramid beneath the Antarctic region and gets trapped between Predators using the site as a hunting ground and rapidly multiplying Aliens. It is designed as a meeting point between two brands, so newcomers do not need to complete the Alien series first.

Treat the AVP films as a crossover branch, not as mandatory chapters in the modern Alien movie timeline. They matter to Predator fans because they turn the trophy-room tease into a full ritual hunt and show a human-Predator alliance under extreme pressure.

4. Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)

Requiem begins immediately after Alien vs. Predator. The Predalien born at the end of the first crossover triggers a new outbreak after a Predator ship crashes near Gunnison, Colorado. A veteran Predator arrives to contain the evidence while the town becomes the battlefield.

Do not separate these two crossover films in your watch order. Requiem assumes you remember the previous ending, and its final corporate tease is aimed more at Alien mythology than the main Predator line.

5. Predators (2010)

A group of killers, soldiers and dangerous specialists wake up on an alien game-preserve planet. The smart reversal is that the humans are selected specimens, while multiple Predators control the hunting ground. Adrien Brody’s Royce becomes the reluctant tactician trying to keep the group alive.

The film stands comfortably after the AVP branch because it returns to a Predator-first story. Its exact calendar year is not clearly fixed on screen, so do not pretend it slots neatly between two dated Earth adventures. Release order is the honest placement.

6. The Predator (2018)

Shane Black’s film returns the hunt to contemporary Earth. Army Ranger Quinn McKenna encounters a crashed Predator ship, while a group of ex-soldiers and an evolutionary biologist become caught between government containment efforts and competing Predators.

This entry pushes genetic upgrading and franchise lore harder than the earlier films. It is a direct part of the main film line, but you do not need its ending to understand Prey, Killer of Killers or Badlands. Watch it here because it shows where the series was before Dan Trachtenberg changed the angle.

7. Prey (2022)

Set in the Comanche Nation in 1719, Prey follows Naru, a young hunter who recognises a danger that others dismiss. The story strips the series back to observation, terrain and survival, making it both a historical prequel and one of the easiest standalone entry points.

You can start the franchise with Prey, but release order gives its reversals more weight. Its period setting also proves that human encounters with Predators began long before Dutch entered the jungle. The flintlock pistol provides a deliberate connection to Predator 2, so those two films play especially well together.

8. Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

This feature-length animated anthology follows three warriors in different periods: a Viking raider on a revenge quest, a fighter caught in a conflict between ninja and samurai in feudal Japan, and a Second World War pilot facing an impossible threat in the sky. The stories are separate hunts, but the film ultimately connects them.

Watch it after Prey, not as a collection of disposable shorts. Its historical format expands the same idea that made Naru’s story work, while its closing movement rewards viewers who know the wider series. 20th Century Studios lists the film’s release date as June 6, 2025.

9. Predator: Badlands (2025)

Badlands flips the usual point of view. On a remote planet in the future, a young Predator named Dek, cast out by his clan, forms an unlikely alliance with Thia and sets out to hunt a seemingly overwhelming adversary. Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi plays Dek, while Elle Fanning plays Thia.

This belongs last. It was released after Killer of Killers, is explicitly set in the future and uses Weyland-Yutani imagery that will mean more after the AVP detour or at least some familiarity with Alien. That connection does not make the two AVP movies compulsory, but it makes them useful context. 20th Century Studios lists the release date as November 7, 2025.

Best Predator watch order for different viewers

For first-time viewers: full release order

1. Predator
2. Predator 2
3. Alien vs. Predator
4. Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
5. Predators
6. The Predator
7. Prey
8. Predator: Killer of Killers
9. Predator: Badlands

Choose this route if you want every feature-length Predator film and want the references to arrive in the order audiences originally encountered them.

For the shortest main-series binge

1. Predator
2. Predator 2
3. Predators
4. The Predator
5. Prey
6. Predator: Killer of Killers
7. Predator: Badlands

This removes the two AVP crossovers but keeps every main Predator feature, including the animated anthology. It is the best balance between completeness and momentum.

For a newcomer who wants the strongest modern entry first

1. Prey
2. Predator
3. Predator 2
4. Predators
5. The Predator
6. Predator: Killer of Killers
7. Predator: Badlands

Starting with Prey is safe because it is largely self-contained. Return to release order after that. Add the two AVP films between Predator 2 and Predators if the Alien crossover interests you.

Predator movies in chronological order

A perfectly precise chronology does not exist because several films never state a calendar year, and Killer of Killers spans multiple periods. The most defensible story order is therefore a set of dated and broad placements rather than a fake exact timeline.

Killer of Killers also has connective material beyond its three historical stories. Placing that material exactly would spoil the film and still would not solve every continuity question. The practical answer is simple: watch the anthology after Prey, where it was released, rather than breaking it into pieces across your marathon.

Are the Alien vs. Predator movies canon?

They are canon to their own two-film crossover storyline, and they grow naturally from the Alien-skull tease in Predator 2. The problem comes when viewers try to force them into every modern Alien film’s continuity. The AVP films place Weyland-related events and Aliens on Earth in ways that do not sit cleanly with all later Alien projects.

For a Predator marathon, the sensible treatment is optional but legitimate crossover branch. Watch both together after Predator 2. Skip both if you only want the main Predator films. Either choice still leaves Prey, Killer of Killers and Badlands easy to follow.

Do the shorts and holiday special belong in the order?

They are extras, not required stops. The Predators home-video release included the prequel shorts Moments of Extraction, Crucified and The Chosen. Watch them immediately before Predators if you can access that edition. The Predator Holiday Special is a stop-motion bonus released with the 2018 film’s home-entertainment package, so place it after The Predator.

Predator: Killer of Killers is different. It is a feature-length animated anthology film and belongs in the main viewing list, not in the optional-shorts bucket.

Final recommendation

Use release order unless you have a very specific reason not to. It protects the original movie’s mystery, places the AVP branch where its inspiration makes sense, and lets Prey and Killer of Killers reframe the franchise only after you understand its basic rules. Chronological order is interesting as a second watch, but too many entries have deliberately loose dates for it to be the cleanest first experience.

FAQ

What is the correct order to watch the Predator movies?

For a first watch, use release order: Predator, Predator 2, Alien vs. Predator, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, Predators, The Predator, Prey, Predator: Killer of Killers and Predator: Badlands.

Can I watch Prey before Predator?

Yes. Prey is a self-contained historical prequel set in 1719, so it works as an accessible starting point. Watching Predator and Predator 2 first makes some callbacks more rewarding.

Do I need to watch Alien vs. Predator?

No. The two AVP films are an optional crossover branch. Watch them after Predator 2 if you want the full feature-film run or extra Alien and Weyland context.

Is Predator: Killer of Killers a series?

No. It is a feature-length animated anthology film with three historical hunt stories and connective material, released in 2025.

Where does Predator: Badlands fit in the timeline?

Predator: Badlands is set in the future on a remote planet. Because the official description does not assign a precise calendar year, it belongs at the far end of a broad chronology and last in release order.

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