Predator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, and a collection of other memorable (but clearly not too memorable) actors, is one of my absolute favorite 80s movies. Predator lives in the realm of Total Recall and Terminator 2, and for me, that’s saying something.
But Predator also has a secret history. Did you know that the Predator was supposed to be played by none other than Jean-Claude Van Damme? Not exactly the first person I would have expected, but that’s not even the half of it. The story gets a whole lot stranger.
It turns out that the studio had very different plans for what the Predator would look like. Perhaps they were hungry when they designed him, because the suit sure looks like, well… you’ll see.
So, I exaggerated a little bit.
The food I was thinking about was a lobster (creative, I know), and as these guys explained, that red suit was only used for the “cloaked Predator” scenes, but still! It sure looked like crap, and so did their original, non-cloaked design. I’m glad that the studio ultimately settled on the dreadlocks Rasta Predator we know and love.
This looks a bit better, but not by much. It’s the face… the Predator just looks like an idiot for some reason. In any case…
What really makes me laugh is how badly Jean-Claude Van Damme wanted to fight Arnie. I just picture him whining and begging to use his nunchaku and spin-kick skills. He would be wearing the white track suit pictured above, of course.
Which Suite do YOU Prefer?
You’ve seen both the suits now, so which one do you prefer? Let me know in the comments below, but before you do, check out the full story and a bunch more pictures from the set right here. Some of them are pretty… amazing?
Yeah, we’ll go with that.
