Arnold Schwarzenegger has returned to the Predator movie franchise after almost 40 years.
The Hollywood star, who can currently be seen in Netflix show FUBAR, appeared in the 1987 original, which spawned five follow ups as well as spin-off franchise Alien vs Predator.
Schwarzenegger only appeared in the first film, playing Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer, who takes on a highly dangerous extraterrestrial who hunts his squad while on a mission in the jungle.
However, it was revealed at San Diego Comic-Con that Schwarzenegger, 77, gave his permission for his likeness to be used in an epilogue scene that’s been tacked onto the end of Predator: Killer of Killers.
Predator: Killer of Killers was released without epilogue in June – but the new scene has just been added by director Dan Trachtenberg.
It shows predator warriors carrying coffins of several humans, including Dutch, Lt Mike Harrigan, who was played by Danny Glover in Predator 2 (1990), and Amber Midthunder’s Naru who appeared in Prey (2022).
Trachtenberg said that Schwarzenegger gave him his permission to use his likeness for the character’s return, which is canon to the franchise and arrives five years after he provided voicework for Predator video game Hunting Grounds.
It’s unknown whether the actor will show up in a forthcoming Predator film, titled Predator: Badlands, which will be released on 7 November. It stars Elle Fanning, whose character develops an unusual bond with a young predator.
The news arrives after Schwarzenegger named what he believed to be the worst film in another one of his franchises – The Terminator.
The actor has starred in the science-fiction film series since the 1980s, appearing in five of the six instalments released between 1984 and 2019.
James Cameron directed the first two films in the series: The Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Both were critically acclaimed.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, directed by Jonathan Mostow, received middling reviews upon its release in 2003. The final three films of the franchise – Terminator: Salvation (2009); Terminator: Genisys (2015); Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) – are widely considered the weakest of the bunch.
Schwarzenegger has a particular dislike for Terminator: Salvation, which starred Christian Bale and was directed by Joseph McGinty Nichol, known professionally as McG.
It is the only film in the franchise the actor did not appear in, which was the basis of his choice.
Appearing on Watch What Happens Live, the FUBAR actor said: “I would say the worst was probably number four because that was done during the time I was governor [of California] and I was not in it.”
He told host Andy Cohen: “How do you do a Terminator movie without me being in the Terminator movie? It doesn’t make any sense.”
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