Predator Movies in Order: Release Order and Chronological Order

The Predator movies in order of release run from Predator (1987) to Predator: Badlands (2025), which is five main films and four spinoffs across 38 years. Release order is the simplest route through the saga, because it follows the way audiences first met the Yautja, and it answers the question of which Predator movie comes first. For the full film list, see predator movies, and for the count, see how many predator movies are there.

1. Predator (1987), directed by John McTiernan: Dutch Schaefer's mercenary team is flown into a Central American jungle and finds skinned bodies hanging in the trees.
2. Predator 2 (1990), directed by Stephen Hopkins: Lieutenant Mike Harrigan hunts the creature through a Los Angeles heat wave in 1997.
3. AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004), directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, a crossover spinoff: a heat signature under the ice of Bouvet Island leads a team to a buried pyramid.
4. Aliens vs Predator: Requiem (2007), directed by Colin Strause and Greg Strause, a crossover spinoff: a hybrid creature escapes a crashed Predator ship near Gunnison, Colorado.
5. Predators (2010), directed by Nimród Antal: Royce and seven other strangers wake up falling into a jungle on a world that is not Earth.
6. The Predator (2018), directed by Shane Black: army sniper Quinn McKenna sees a Predator ship crash and mails pieces of its armor home.
7. Prey (2022), directed by Dan Trachtenberg, a spinoff: Naru, a young Comanche healer, goes looking for proof of a danger on the Great Plains in 1719.
8. Predator: Killer of Killers (2025), directed by Dan Trachtenberg, an animated spinoff: three stories in three eras, opening with a Viking raid.
9. Predator: Badlands (2025), directed by Dan Trachtenberg: Dek, the runt of his Yautja clan, crash lands on the deadly planet Genna.

Two details make the list less tidy than it looks. Prey (2022) went straight to Hulu in the US on August 5, 2022, and Killer of Killers followed on Hulu on June 6, 2025, while Badlands returned the series to theaters on November 7, 2025 with a PG-13 rating (according to Box Office Mojo). The two AVP films are crossover spinoffs, and their dedicated coverage sits with the alien vs predator pages.

Nothing follows Badlands yet. No title, date or cast has been announced, and Gizmodo reported on September 28, 2026 that Trachtenberg is taking a break from Predator to direct a Disney project inspired by Sleeping Beauty (reported, not an announcement about the series). The latest status is tracked under new predator movie.

The best place to start the Predator movies is Predator (1987), in my opinion, with Prey (2022) as the easiest modern alternative. If you are asking in what order you should watch the Predator movies, my answer is release order for the first two films, then a choice about the rest.

Predator (1987) opens with a mercenary team flown into a Central American jungle, and the helicopter wreckage and the skinned bodies hanging in the trees do more work than any explanation could. Follow it with predator 2, because it moves the hunt into a city and shows how far the idea stretches.

If you want one newer film and nothing else, Prey (2022) is the cleaner start. Its 1719 setting means no earlier story is required, and Dane DiLiegro, who stands 6 ft 9 in, plays a Predator that Trachtenberg designed to feel more feral (Den of Geek). It could be argued that Prey (2022) is the best film to hand to a friend who has never seen the series. For the full case, see predator movies ranked.

I would leave the two AVP films for later. AVP: Alien vs. Predator suits viewers who already like the Alien films, and Requiem follows it, so watch them as a pair or skip both. Predators, The Predator and Badlands can then go in release order, with Killer of Killers slotted in before Badlands if you want the animated anthology fresh.

Before you start, check where each film streams. As of November 3, 2026, JustWatch data via TMDB lists Prey (2022), Killer of Killers and Badlands on Hulu in the US and Disney Plus in the UK and Australia, with the older films spread across Philo, YouTube TV, FXNow and rental stores. The where to watch predator page has the full table by country.