‘Predator: Badlands’ Nearly Featured an Arnold Schwarzenegger Cameo

Fans have wanted to see Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) return to the Predator franchise for forever now. And it sounds like we were once again this close to that happening.

In Dan Trachtenberg‘s Predator: Badlands, there’s a scene early on in which lead Yautja Dek and his brother sort through various holograms. Amber Midthunder‘s Prey character, Naru, appears briefly. But it turns out, Dutch and the Xenomorph were also originally featured in those holograms.

During an interview with Screenrant, Trachtenberg discussed the original draft and that scene in particular. “[We] wanted to nod to our favorite characters that the Predators have fought against over the years,” said the director, adding that the scene from the original draft “got truncated” to the point that audiences “could barely see”.

Trachtenberg continued, “They had a longer conversation, or they said the same idea of “Pick Your Planet,” and all that stuff, but it was a little bit longer. So there were more holograms to be in the background. And what we have now is more soft focus in the foreground, you kind of see it and all that.”

As for Naru, Trachtenberg has other plans for a more prominent return from her. “I didn’t want to ruin [her return]…The thing we haven’t gotten in all the great sci-fi we’ve enjoyed over the years is it’s the creatures, it’s their movie, that’s it, no humans. And then, I had other cool thoughts for what Naru could do in the future and was like, “Oh, that would be awesome for that.” But I could feel it. There’s definitely a version where you find Naru on that planet, and she has to [survive], and they meet — I could see that version and didn’t want to spend all the chips right away.”

While it would’ve been fun to see Naru have more of a role in Badlands, Trachtenberg certainly intends on exploring more of her story eventually. Dutch, on the other hand…well, a fan can dream.

You can now stream on Hulu, along with the rest of the franchise.