Prey was great and Trachtenberg is a real down to earth and film savvy guy. I wish him great success, even if I have a hard time imagining Fanning as the lead. My kneejerk reaction is to be anti-woke but thinking clearly Prey is the second best Predator movie in the franchise, and Predator 2 didn't exactly pick a peak human specimen in schlubby ol' Danny Glover either (should've went with Billy Blanks). The rest of the franchise is all over the place too, so honestly it doesn't matter at this point.
Hey now, don't be dissing Danny. He's always been in pretty good shape. Here he is years after Predator 2
The whole point of Predator, for me, is that mankind CAN'T match it with technology, it always boils down to raw cunning, a descent into the primal hunting instinct, tossing away the trappings of civilization. These are basically Conan stories for a modern audience.
The problem with
Prey wasn't that it had a female lead, it's that the SPECIFIC female they cast had all the physicality and intimidation factor of a wet kitten.
I spent the whole movie torn between the desire to slip her a 20 for a lap dance and expecting her to complain about a broken nail. She just couldn't sell any physicality.
Now contrast that to the Nola/Burton fight scene in Banshee where the native American actress (and her stunt team) CAN sell the plausibility that she can go Mano y mano with a tough guy. The actress is a slim chick but she has some weight to her screen presence and a more lean look.
Spoilers if you want to watch Banshee (incredibly highly recommended) as this clip has the end of that fight.