Predator: Killer of Killers brings back the flintlock pistol from Predator 2 and Prey
20th Century Studios
The catspaw dagger from “Game of Thrones” and “House of the Dragon” might feel like one of the most well-traveled items in fantasy, but the flintlock pistol from “Predator 2,” “Prey,” and now “Predator: Killer of Killers” certainly has it beat — and by quite a bit of mileage, too. “Predator 2” famously took place in the streets of Los Angeles, bringing the Yautja into an urban environment for the first time. That only made the anachronistic appearance of an 18th-century pistol all the more jarring near the end of the sequel, hinting at the aliens’ presence on Earth going back hundreds and hundreds of years. When “Prey” unexpectedly decided to turn that hanging thread into an Easter egg and provided an entire origin story, fans likely figured that would be the official close of that loop. Well, think again! “Killer of Killers” keeps that plot point going, moving the action an indeterminate amount of time into the future (post-1942, at the very least) in its final segment and bringing back that pistol one more time.
But what about that timeline? This portion of “Killer of Killers” likely takes place before the events of the 1990s-set “Predator 2,” meaning that the pistol begins on Earth during the events of “Prey,” makes its way into outer space after Naru is taken prisoner and whisked away by returning Yautja (as hinted at in the ending credits montage of that film and subsequently confirmed in the end-credits scene in “Killer of Killers”), factors into the events of “Killer of Killers” during the gladiator fight to the death, and comes all the way back to Earth in time for “Predator 2.”
With “Killer of Killers,” that pistol’s interstellar journey has become a fun storyline taking place in the background of these various movies. As far as crass exercises of IP brand management and connectivity go these days, we could do a lot worse than this harmless Easter egg. Maybe we should keep an eye out for it during this year’s upcoming “Predator: Badlands,” which is vaguely set “on a remote planet” and due to hit theaters November 7, 2025.
