The Predator franchise got about as big a main ’80s star as it could with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Ever since that 1987 original film, the Predator series has attempted to rope him back in to frontline the movies in the same way that Schwarzenegger has returned for The Terminator sequels. Despite three three sequels (excluding the prequel, Prey) and two Alien vs. Predator movies, Schwarzenegger’s Predator return has never come to fruition. The reasons have varied, but the question is, could the Predator franchise even find a worthwhile way to incorporate Dutch Schaefer back into the narrative? And, if not, would it even be a worthy endeavor.
Almost Every Predator Sequel Tries to Bring Back Arnold Schwarzenegger
The core Predator movies (meaning not the pair of AVP films) have managed to continue delivering standout action scenes, but when it comes to human characters it’s been a mixed bag. Given how the original Predator just had a group of United States Army special forces operators, it was never particularly character focused as much as it was content with delivering testosterone and arterial sprays, but they were exactly what the film, and perhaps the IP as a whole, needed.
Danny Glover did a fine job as Lieutenant Mike Harrigan in Predator 2, 2010’s Predators copy-pasted the original film’s core concept with a more diverse group of fighters turned survivors, and The Predator essentially had the Suicide Squad going up against the Yautja. Those films’ ensembles were worthy attempts to shake things up a bit, but nothing has ever worked as well as the original film’s macho man line-up.
And it seems the directors behind each of those films were aware that the 1987 movie’s line-up was impossible to replicate and just as hard to replace, as Schwarzenegger was supposed to appear in all three projects. When it came time to make 1990’s Predator 2 a few years after McTiernan’s film took off, director Stephen Hopkins (fresh off A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child) wanted to bring back Schwarzenegger and team him up with Patrick Swayze, who had just come off Road House.
Why didn’t Schwarzenegger come back? For one, there was a salary dispute and, two, he was busy with Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The next attempt was with 2004’s Alien vs. Predator, and rumors swirled that the actor was interested in reprising his role as Dutch for a cameo in the monster mash. The caveat was that he could only do it if he lost the recall election to replace Gray Davis as Governor of California. Of course, Schwarzenegger won that election and failed to appear in the crossover movie.
The next time Schwarzenegger’s name came up was for Predators in 2010. Predators producer Robert Rodriguez had a final scene in mind where Schaefer would join a Yautja hunting party. But once more, it did not happen, once again likely due to serving as Governor of California at the time (Schwarzenegger was in office from 2003 to 2011).
Once he was out of office however, Schwarzenegger got the call again. Not to cameo, but rather to lead a new Predator movie. Unfortunately, that project entered development hell. The most recent, and likely final, a Dutch Schaefer return has been floated was for Shane Black’s The Predator. Once again, Schwarzenegger would have popped up for a cameo in the film’s final moments, this time uttering his iconic “Come with me if you want to live” from the Terminator franchise. In this case it wasn’t politics that got in the way, it was Schwarzenegger himself, who wasn’t thrilled at that point by the prospect of just a cameo when his schedule was freer and undominated by governance.
It makes sense they’ve tried so often; Schwarzenegger’s charisma is formidable and it’s hard to imagine someone who can spout out a one liner more convincingly. But perhaps it’s for the best his Schaefer was a one-and-done. Plenty would argue the Predator franchise could have used him after the 1987 original film, but that sequel has actually aged fairly well for what it is. It would have been interesting to see him in the button scene of Black’s The Predator, but even if that were the case it would have only been the button scene, and the remainder of the film would still have been butchered behind-the-scenes. In other words, it would have been like that film’s current “Predator killer” suit ending: a promise for more that will never come.
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2025-03-15 20:12