Dan Trachtenberg’s Busy Résumé Could Soon Include a Marvel Movie

Few filmmakers have juggled as many genres as Dan Trachtenberg lately. One outlet noted that he seems intent on making as many different films as he possibly can, and his slate backs that up.

He is set to direct the animated horror comedy ‘Freddy the 13th’, based on a graphic novel by his co-director Yehudi Mercado. He has also been attached to develop and direct a Disney movie inspired by ‘Sleeping Beauty’. That is a wide range for a director best known for reviving a sci-fi monster franchise.

Now there is word that his next stop could be a very big one. According to an exclusive from Alex Perez, the ‘Predator’ director is in talks to write and direct a Marvel Studios movie. The report appeared on The Cosmic Circus on November 12, 2026, and ComicBook.com picked it up on X soon after, crediting the outlet as its source.

Details are thin for now. The reporting describes the project only as a future Marvel movie, so there is no title, character or release window attached. Still, the phrasing that he would both write and direct suggests Marvel is interested in more than a director for hire.

The pairing is not entirely out of nowhere. Trachtenberg has said on the ‘Happy Sad Confused’ podcast that Marvel approached him before the studio went with James Gunn for ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’. That means the filmmaker and the studio have been circling each other for years.

Perez has also floated his name before. Back in 2024, answering a fan’s question about who might direct a ‘Midnight Sons’ movie, Perez listed Trachtenberg among his picks, alongside Fede Álvarez, James Wan and Sam Raimi. Whether that earlier wish list had anything to do with today’s report is unclear, but the overlap is hard to ignore.

His recent track record helps explain why the interest makes sense. After the Emmy-winning ‘Prey’, Trachtenberg took on another standalone ‘Predator’ movie, ‘Badlands’, which he wrote and directed. That film starred Elle Fanning, and 20th Century Studios president Steve Asbell said Trachtenberg chose not to make ‘Prey 2’ after the first film’s success. Choosing a fresh swing over an easy sequel is the kind of instinct studios tend to notice.

It is also worth remembering that not every Trachtenberg project has made it to the finish line. He was once attached to an ‘Uncharted’ adaptation at Sony before leaving the project. Talks are just talks, and Hollywood is full of directors who were linked to a project that never materialized.

Fans, meanwhile, will likely have strong opinions about what kind of Marvel story suits him. His ‘Predator’ films lean on tension, creature design and tight, character-driven action, which is a toolkit that could fit a street-level hero or a darker corner of the universe. That is speculation, of course, and Marvel has not confirmed anything.

For now, the situation is simple. A filmmaker with several projects already in motion is reportedly in conversation with Marvel Studios about writing and directing a film. If the talks turn into a deal, it would add another unexpected line to one of the more interesting careers in genre filmmaking.