1990’s Predator 2 features prominent actors like Gary Busey, Danny Glover, and Bill Paxton, but one of the original plans for its cast would’ve allowed for an even more perfect action movie team-up. The sci-fi action flick is a follow-up to 1987’s Predator, the massively popular Arnold Schwarzenegger-led film in the same thematic vein. Despite Predator 2’s widely negative critical response after its release, it has since been considered a cult classic by many fans of the franchise. Interestingly though, the version of the movie that ended up hitting the big screen was very different compared to some of the initial ideas for the project.

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Predator 2 swaps the jungle setting of the original for the urban sprawl of Los Angeles. The story introduces LAPD cop Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover) and his law enforcement team as they, along with the rest of the city, try to navigate a sweltering heatwave and a brutal drug cartel war being waged in the streets. It doesn’t take long for the project’s titular, monstrous antagonist, an alien Predator (played by Kevin Peter Hall), to make its way into the plot and wreak havoc on nearby humans.

The sequel has some big names within its cast, but it seems that the already impressive list could’ve been quite different. According to a 2021 article from Eighties Kids, Patrick Swayze was actually set to be in the movie. In fact, he was supposed to star in it alongside the previous installment’s main man, Schwarzenegger. According to the piece, Swayze didn’t end up in the project because he was “out of action due to an injury he had sustained on the set of 1989’s Road House,” and Schwarzenegger didn’t return in Predator 2 because of a “dispute over his proposed salary.” Subsequently, the project became very different than what other iterations brought forth. Of course, diehard franchise fans would’ve, generally speaking, preferred to see Schwarzenegger as the flick’s leading man, as he was in 1987’s John McTiernan-directed classic. But, while Schwarzenegger’s absence in itself was lamentable, the prospect of a team-up with and Swayze represents a major missed opportunity for the franchise.

Though Predator 2 has become a cult success in the eyes of many fans and Glover’s Lt. Harrigan is an iconic figure, the widely criticized project lacks any real spark. Given this, it’s easy to see why many contemporary critics labeled it a major disappointment. By contrast, a version with two of the era’s biggest action stars, along with the intrigue of Schwarzenegger’s return to the franchise, would have at least added an extra dimension, regardless of the end result. While suggestions that the combination could have saved the film are pure speculation, it certainly represents a tantalizing scenario for audiences.

Despite Swayze and Schwarzenegger’s absence, however, casting wasn’t the only issue with Predator 2. According to the Eighties Kids article, Predator 2’s original edit was “re-cut at least 2o times to remove a number of graphic scenes,” which would, in turn, help avoid an NC-17 rating that would negatively affect box office sales. In addition, the piece says that the film’s script was written in a mere three weeks. Based on this information, it certainly seems as though the creative process behind the movie to fruition was rushed, and the project itself repeatedly altered. Unfortunately, with these behind-the-scenes facts in mind, the film’s lack of overall zip, or at least zip more akin to the ’87 original, is understandable. All franchise fans can do now, aside from enjoy the version that they know for what it is, is wonder about the countless other versions of Predator 2 that could’ve been – especially in regard to its cast and writing.

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Lindsey DeRoche
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Lindsey DeRoche is a TV and movie features writer for Screen Rant. She received a BA in English, with a concentration in writing, from Plymouth State University in 2018. She’s had a passion for reading, writing, TV, and movies since her early years.

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