'The Predator' Has a Crazy Cameo Everyone Missed

It turns out that there's a deep cut meta joke cameo in Shane Black's The Predator that we all missed -- most of us because we just didn't go see The Predator. But even those who did likely overlooked a fleeting reference to the original 1987 movie's production history. Specifically, the part of the production history who can do the splits anywhere at any time.

The Predator's cinematographer, Larry Fong, tweeted a photo of a mysterious red creature, referencing an Easter egg hidden in the new movie.

Of course, movie obsessives were quick to recognize the image of the original Predator, as played by Jean Claude Van Damme. As we've mentioned before, the "Mussels From Brussels" was originally slated to play the brutal alien warrior before the space-poop hit the space-fan.

It turned out that Van Damme thought that the costume would be a minimal "leotard," not a giant unwieldy rubber getup. He was also pissed to learn that he'd be invisible for most of the movie, and would therefore have to dress like a mascot for the world's saddest Red Lobster.

While the crappy costume and disgruntled actor ultimately led to the character being redesigned and recast, the story of how the guy from Bloodsport nearly battled Arnold Schwarzenegger in janky cosplay has become the stuff of legend. Now there's apparently a reference to that scrapped Predator in the 2018 version.

While Fong hasn't come clean yet, some users have responded to his tweet, claiming to have spotted the original Predator costume amongst the sea of children in one of The Predator's Halloween scenes. So unless it turns out that the actor in the suit did something horrible that the director didn't bother to tell anyone about, we should be able to eventually see it for ourselves.

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