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.