Predator's Prey: Reframing indigenous representation and Hollywood franchise cinema in the age of SVOD

Abstract

Hulu's Prey (2022), the fifth installment of the Predator franchise, is set in 1719 and features a Comanche female protagonist. The setting is unlike the 1987 Predator and its sequels, with their hardbody machismo and conservative politics. We argue that Prey is a small but significant step in Hollywood, but its inclusivity comes at a price. Though praised as progressive, it perpetuates a worldview in which Native Americans are ‘noble savages’ and processes of colonial dispossession are framed as quasi-natural occurrences. Prey provides clues on the future of franchises in terms of how minority histories and subjectivities are represented.