Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Predator: Killer of Killers!Co-director Dan Trachtenberg explains how Naru, Amber Midthunder's character from Prey, has a cameo in Predator: Killer of Killers' ending brings the leads together as part of a gladiator-style fight until they escape. But, a surprise comes as Naru from Prey appears in a cryo pod in the final scene.

During an interview with ScreenRant's Joe Deckelmeier for Predator: Killer of Killers' release, co-director Dan Trachtenberg was asked how Naru is present in this story. Prey took place in 1719, which places it at least two hundred years before the film's climax, raising questions about how Naru appears. Trachtenberg explains that time travel is not involved, as Naru has been taken from her original time and "put into stasis." She is one of the captives who could one day fight in the Yautja arenas. Read our full Predator: Killer of Killers interview with Dan Trachtenberg, with his full response below:

Dan Trachtenberg: "I mean, I'll clearly say it is not time travel. They are not time traveling. That is the benefit of the cryo pod - they are plucked from their time period and then put into stasis and then unleashed when decided upon for that evening's delightful entertainment."

What Naru's Cameo Means For Predator: Killer Of Killers & The Franchise's Future

Her Status Has Completely Changed

The reason for Naru's presence in Predator: Killer of Killers is due to how Prey ends. Trachtenberg's prior film in the franchise saw Midthunder's character kill the Yautja that was hunting her. She seemingly got a happy ending by saving the Comanche tribe, but Prey's credits teased that this was not the end of her story. An animated sequence showed the aliens coming back to Earth, with more of them this time. The reason, known from Predator: Killer of Killers, was to capture someone who managed to kill a Yautja.

The animated movie explains that the aliens routinely go and abduct anyone who manages to defeat one of their own. Trachtenberg's comments confirm that the Yautja capture Naru after Prey and put her in a cryo pod. She's seen in Killer of Killers among thousands of pods that now also include Ursa. Naru remains frozen on the Yautja home planet as the aliens wait to wake her up at the time of their choosing.

Naru's cameo in Predator: Killer of Killers is meant to tease what could come in the future. The animated film's reveal is sure to factor into what comes next in the series, whether that is Predator: Badlands - which comes out in just a few months - or other projects reportedly in development - like Prey 2. Naru might not be the only familiar character from past Predator movies who is stuck in one of these cryo pods either.

Our Take On Naru's Predator: Killer Of Killers Cameo

Prey 2 Will Be Completely Different Than Expected

Featuring Naru like this is one of the biggest cameo opportunities Predator: Killer of Killers could have delivered, second to only Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch being referenced. This is clearly only a hint of what Trachtenberg is planning for the franchise's future, but it's an exciting development nonetheless. This opens up the possibility of Naru appearing at various points in the timeline, possibly even Predator: Badlands if she's still in stasis during the future-set film.

More notably, this lays the foundation for Prey 2 to be a completely different movie than I expected it would be. The common thought was that the sequel would be set in the 1700s again and show Naru's fight with the Yautja upon their return. Now that we know she ends up as a captive of the aliens, it'd make more sense for Prey 2 to pick up Naru's story after the events of Predator: Killer of Killers. Having her fight her way out of the Yautja arena would be nothing like the sequel story she was expected to receive.