This month’s “Predator: Badlands” is a unique film in the “Predator” franchise for many reasons. The movie has a very small cast of characters, perhaps the smallest of any “Predator” film thus far. Yet, despite the movie’s tight focus on Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), and Thia (Elle Fanning), “Badlands” never feels small. It showcases not just the Predator homeworld of Yautja Prime, but a deadly alien planet called Genna, which is filled with all sorts of killer flora and fauna. However, despite these expansive worlds where the film takes place, there aren’t large numbers of characters included that could allow folks sneak in for little cameo roles.
Leave it to the creators of “Stranger Things,” Matt and Ross Duffer, to upend those expectations. While the Duffer Brothers don’t appear on screen, they lend their voices to the computer for the Yautja ship initially owned by Kwei (Mike Homik), Dek’s brother, before Dek inherits it through circumstance. This is unexpected not just given that it’s the Duffers of all people, but that “Badlands” makes a point out of double casting its actors. To wit, Schuster-Koloamatangi plays both Dek and Njohrr, aka the Apex Predator, which is Dek and Kwei’s father. Fanning plays both Thia and her “sister” Weyland-Yutani synthetic, Tessa, and Cameron Brown plays the Drone Synth, aka the myriad other Weyland-Yutani synthetics under Tessa’s command. Yet while the Duffers’ aural appearance may be unanticipated, it makes more sense once one factors in one of director Dan Trachtenberg’s major influences in making “Badlands.”
Read more: The Most Confusing Parts Of Longlegs, Explained
The Duffer Brothers cameo in Predator: Badlands is a stealth Star Wars: The Force Awakens homage
Listen close on Kwei’s ship and you can hear the Duffers in Predator: Badlands – 20th Century Studios
Obviously, Matt and Ross Duffer are not known for their acting chops. After all, their only credited role on IMDb pre-“Badlands” is for an appearance in a short film from 2008 entitled “The Milkman.” While filmmakers tapping other filmmakers for tiny cameos is certainly nothing new, there’s a more specific homage that Trachtenberg is likely aiming at with the Duffers’ casting. During a recent interview with Empire magazine, Trachtenberg revealed that one of the major inspirations for “Badlands” came from the teaser trailer for JJ Abrams’ “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which promised that a Stormtrooper, Finn (John Boyega), would become a protagonist and a hero. In addition to introducing that subversive concept into the “Star Wars” mythos (thus providing Trachtenberg with a similar take on “Predator”), “The Force Awakens” featured a slew of celebrity cameos.
Thus, not only is the vocal appearance of Matt and Ross Duffer a cute homage to the parade of cameos in “The Force Awakens,” it’s also a clever nod to their own successful Netflix series, one which closes a sneaky little reference loop. Not only is 1987’s “Predator” one of the most iconic genre films of the ’80s, whose pop culture “Stranger Things” routinely references and celebrates, but it also provided inspiration for the name of one of the series’ main characters. In “Predator,” one of the soldiers found skinned alive by the Yautja in Central America is named Jim Hopper, and in “Stranger Things,” David Harbour plays Hawkins, Indiana Sheriff Jim Hopper. While we’re not quite at “Wes Craven and Sam Raimi trading nods” levels yet, this may be the beginning of a reference game between the Duffers and the “Predator” franchise.
If you’re looking for the easiest way to keep up with all the major movie and TV news, why not sign up to our free newsletter? You can also add us as a preferred search source on Google.
Read the original article on SlashFilm.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
