With the release of Predator: Hunting Grounds now reigniting interest in the Predator franchise, we take a look back at the most recent cinematic installment of Yautja lore - Shane Black's The Predator (2018) and more specifically, we're going to revisit the film's alternate endings and deleted scenes.
Back in July of 2019, The Predator writer Fred Dekker sat down with Moviefone to divulge details on why they decided to change The Predator's original ending. For those why have a foggy memory, The Predator concluded by revealing the controversial "Predator Killer" tech - an alien suit of armor designed to kill Predators. But that wasn't the original plan.
Originally, the Predator agenda focused on their need as a species to genetically upgrade themselves to avoid extinction and also splice the DNA of their prey. A band of Predator Hybrid creatures would have been created and would have been used to eradicate mankind off of Earth so the new, Upgrade Predators could move in and take over. Some of this plot was retained for the film, but the Hybrid Predators and their utilization were never shown.
The final act of the film was originally going to include a massive fight between Humans, Emissary Predators, Upgrade Predators AND the Hybrid Predators! The goal was to do something no other Predator film had done before but as Dekker explained in his interview, Fox studio executives felt this deviated too far off course from what they thought a Predator movie should be. So, the massive scale battle was scrapped and replaced with a night-time hunting scene with the Upgrade Predator alone.
Another alternative ending involved the introduction of a time-traveling Newt and Ripley from ALIENS, but we won't open that can of worms in this post...
If you want to read more about that alternative ending and even see some set photos from the scrapped scene, check out this post.
The Predator was also going to explore more of the Yautja lore and culture and flesh out their reasoning for genetically upgrading themselves more. But sadly, that angle of the story was condensed.
It certainly sounds like The Predator could have been something quite different. Whether the original ending would have done the franchise a service or further divided its fan base, we're uncertain. Unfortunately, that side of the story will likely never see the silver screen.
Would you have liked to see that alternate ending play out? Or are you happy with the ending they chose? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
We'll see you, on the Hunting Grounds!
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