Dek of the Yautja goes through a lot throughout Predator: Badlands , all in the name of seeking validation from his father, Njohrr. This being Predator , “validation” actually means “trial by combat,” and the showdown between father and son at the end was almost more restrained than what we got on screen.

In the final cut of the film, Dek and Njohrr’s fight on Yautja Prime has them really going at it. But as Wētā’s two supervisors—Sheldon Stopsack for VFX, and Karl Rapley for animation—revealed to Polygon , that clash was originally more akin to a samurai film. “Father would turn invisible, and there’d be a quick rush as they ran toward each other,” explained Rapley. “Dek threw sand at Father, which revealed him, and then they crossed paths, like a samurai standoff, and they

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