The Yautja (or Predators as most people know them) are among the most recognized characters in movie history. Their exposed mandibles are terrifying, their technology is deadly and beyond anything seen on Earth, and they’ve been hunting and killing for eons. While they've had stories published by Marvel Comics for some years, they officially started fighting characters from the Marvel Universe in 2023 with Benjamin Percy’s Predator vs Wolverine.
The series of events continued when the Yautja went up against Kraven the Hunter. Kraven ended up killing a rogue Predator that their race considered the most dangerous, Skinner. Now, with the Yautja’s gratitude and acceptance, Kraven will help them with their next mission to take over Earth and use it as their preserve and home. Their slaughter started immediately with the death of the Guardians of the Galaxy and it ended with Ben Grimm, Reed Richards, and Johnny Storm all being killed thanks to Kraven’s instructions.
Predator Kills the Marvel Universe No. 1 creative team
- Writer: Benjamin Percy
- Artist: Marcelo Ferreira
- Colorist: Frank D'ARMATA
Previously, I wrote that the Yautja are cool-looking, dangerous, but overrated. It’s no wonder that they’ve continuously lost to Marvel Comics characters. They’ve never fought anyone close to the powers and abilities of Spider-Man, T’Challa, and Wolverine. While I still believe the Predators are vastly outmatched, adding Kraven to the equation was a brilliant move by Benjamin Percy.
Kraven isn’t the best fighter in Marvel Comics, and it’s doubtful he’d be put into anyone's top 20 greatest. Nevertheless, what he lacks in wins and losses he makes up for with knowledge. He knows how the best think and their weaknesses. That’s how he knew to lure the Guardians of the Galaxy in with a distress call and the best way to take out the Fantastic Four. While this is a great start, the Yautja and Kraven the Hunter have a long way to go before they claim Earth as theirs.
With three of the Fantastic Four out of the way, we can guess that Tony Stark, Forge, and Doctor Doom are next because their intellects are the biggest threat. After that could be magic users like Doctor Strange and Gods like Thor. And we can't forget the X-Men, who won't go down easily. How they plan for all of them will be interesting. Meanwhile, the street types like Luke Cage, Moon Knight, and Daredevil are tough, but don’t pose a huge threat.
Lastly, Weapon X is secretly experimenting on a Yautja and calling it Predator X. We don’t know how or when that will come into play, but it certainly will. It’s kind of funny that the key to saving the world could be thanks to the disturbing and dastardly people of the Weapon X program. Only someone as creative as Benjamin Percy could think up something like this and make it work.
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