Be warned, this contains spoilers for Predator: Badlands! In the new series, Predators are the hunted, thanks to a creature named Kalisk. The team at Weta FX, who worked on the show, say Kalisk went through significant changes during production. Directed by Dan Trachtenberg (known for Prey and Killer of Killers), Badlands follows Dek, a young Predator exiled by his tribe and nearly killed by his father. He travels to the dangerous planet of Genna hoping to find a trophy that will restore his honor.
In Predator: Badlands, Dek sets his sights on taking down the Kalisk, a creature so formidable even the Yautja consider it invincible and the planet’s top predator. Over the course of the 107-minute film, Dek battles the Kalisk multiple times, discovering its amazing strength and ability to heal quickly. Along the way, he forms a bond with a native creature named Bud (as nicknamed by Thia, played by Elle Fanning), and ultimately tries to help free the Kalisk from captivity by Weyland-Yutani.
Sheldon Stopsack, the VFX Supervisor, and Karl Rapley, the Animation Supervisor, explained the creation of the Kalisk in Predator: Badlands during a recent interview with ScreenRant’s Grant Hermanns. Rapley described the creature’s development as a long and involved process, from initial designs to the final version seen in the film.
According to Rapley, the Kalisk was originally conceived with many more powers and characteristics than what made it into the final cut. Trachtenberg had a wealth of ideas for the creature, but during editing, they realized they couldn’t fully explain everything or include all of it without disrupting the story’s flow. As a result, the team at Weta FX had to simplify and remove some of those initial concepts.
The creature’s ability to regenerate was incredibly powerful right from the beginning. From a design perspective, we knew we needed to showcase this ability, especially during the action scenes. The challenge was figuring out how a Power Loader could fight something that could just heal itself. Ultimately, we decided to have the Power Loader use a massive saw blade to overwhelm the creature’s regenerative capabilities.
Rapley explained that the Kalisk’s face went through many changes during development. Some early versions didn’t have tendrils at all, while others featured a wavy design. They eventually settled on a tendril structure resembling bone. When animating the Kalisk’s movements, the team drew inspiration from various animals, including bears – noticeable when it’s destroying the Power Loader – as well as raptors from Jurassic Park, big cats, and even a touch of King Kong.
When Rapley discussed the team’s effort to highlight the subtle, emotional moments of the Kalisk in Predator: Badlands, Stopsack added that the film deliberately avoids presenting it simply as a monster, especially because the connection between Bud and the Kalisk is complex. The visual effects supervisor explained that the design process, which took a significant amount of time to finalize, was heavily influenced by Rapley’s early work on the film’s previsualization, ultimately leading to a design philosophy where the creature’s appearance reflected its purpose and behavior.
When designing the Kalisk, we focused on both practical needs and emotional connections, particularly its relationship to the character Bud. We started with core ideas like regeneration and the imagery of a saw blade, letting those concepts guide the visual development. Form definitely followed function, but it was complicated by the need to subtly hint at connections without revealing them immediately. We wanted the audience to notice similarities over time, so we used abstract visual cues. For example, Bud has scales, and the Kalisk’s tendrils evolved from that idea. Every detail was carefully considered to create the final design.
We had many discussions about it. Dan was particularly focused on being careful not to reveal our plans prematurely, and that was a key consideration.
Predator: Badlands broke new ground for the Predator series in several ways, but the introduction of the Kalisk is particularly interesting. It marked the first time a Predator hunted a creature that was actually more dangerous than itself. Usually, Predators hunt humans who put up a good fight, but only after they’ve figured out what they’re up against.
Beyond the Predators killed in previous films, the Kalisk is the first intended trophy that isn’t killed by the alien hunters by the end of Predator: Badlands. While its ability to heal initially made it seem invincible, Dek ultimately sides with the Kalisk and tries to reunite it with its baby. Ultimately, Tessa, played by Elle Fanning, defeats the creature using Dek’s freezing grenades.
The creature design of the Kalisk in Predator: Badlands closely matches the descriptions given by Rapley and Stopsack, particularly its four-legged movement and powerful, animalistic nature, which evokes images of lions and bears. Notably, the Kalisk’s design cleverly foreshadows the reveal that Bud is its offspring. Shared details like scales and eye shape act as subtle hints, even though Bud’s animation style differs from the larger Kalisk.
Be sure to dive into some of our other Predator: Badlands coverage with:
- Our Predator: Badlands Review
- Our guide on how Predator: Badlands connects to the Alien franchise
- Dan Trachtenberg teasing what’s next for the Predator franchise after Badlands
- Dan Trachtenberg on how he was inspired by Star Wars‘ C-3PO and R2-D2 for the film
- Dan Trachtenberg on abandoning a Tarantino-esque Predator movie set in World War II
- Dan Trachtenberg revealing which original Predator character he wants to bring back
- Dan Trachtenberg on the sneaky Stranger Things cameo in Badlands
- Dan Trachtenberg explaining how Badlands breaks the franchise’s planet-based trend
- Dan Trachtenberg explaining why there are no human characters in Predator: Badlands
- Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi revealing the surprising level of practicality behind the film
- Stopsack & Rapley on how Predator: Badlands‘ ending fight was nearly very different
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2025-11-29 02:30