'The Predator' Ending Almost Went Totally Off The Rails With An Ellen Ripley Cameo [UPDATED]
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If you haven't gotten around to seeing The Predator yet, which is now available on home video, you should know that it has a totally insane ending that sets the stage for a crazy sequel. But the ending was almost even more ludicrous than the one that ended up in theaters, and it would have brought the Predator franchise back around to its rivalry with the Alien franchise.
UPDATE: Another alternate ending would have brought back another character from the Alien universe as well. We've added details about that in our original story below.
Find out about The Predator alternate ending below.
First up, let's recap what actually happens at the end of The Predator. After the hybrid Predator has been destroyed, the surviving humans get their hands on a package that the other fugitive Predator brought to them. It's supposed to be some kind of "Predator killer" to take on the entire race of galactic hunters.
When the humans open the package, it looks like some kind of piece of machinery covered in black slime, floating in the air. But out of nowhere, it attaches to the arm of one of the scientists nearby and covers him in the armor of a weaponized suit that is loaded with guns and glowing red eyes. It's a crazy little tease for humanity taking the war to the Predators, but it was almost way more insane.
Ellen Ripley, Predator Hunter
Visual effects artist and puppeteer Yuri Everson recently took to Twitter with a behind the scenes shot from The Predator, which included an explanation about the Predator alternate ending that would have featured a wild tie-in to the Alien franchise.
A post shared by Yuri Everson (@h2originals) on
In the caption for the above photo, Everson explains:
"We shot three different endings for The Predator, all variations of a "Predator Killer." This unused ending was Predator Killer Ripley wearing the breather mask we created for the film. You can see her name tag there on her costume."
That's right, the protagonist from the Alien franchise played by Sigourney Weaver was suddenly going to be classified as a Predator killer. You can see the nametag on the bodysuit says Ripley, and Everson reveals that the face mask in question was made to resemble that of the facehuggers from the Alien movies. There were even legs and a tail to flesh it out, but those elements were removed on the day they shot the scene for being a little too much, as if the cameo itself wasn't already totally nuts.
However, even stranger is the fact that Ripley wasn't even going to be played by Sigourney Weaver. Instead, the actress on set to shoot the scene was stunt double Breanna Watkins. We don't know if they would have replaced her face with visual effects, or simply never showed her face and merely let the nametag do the heavy lifting for the reveal, but we're pretty happy that this didn't happen.
Not only would this have been confusing without Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, but it would have completely upended both the Predator and Alien franchises. Let's recall that Alien takes place in the distance future. Ellen Ripley isn't even born until January 8, 2092. Meanwhile, The Predator takes place in present day. So that would require the introduction of time travel to both franchises, and then everything would be even more insane than it already is.
UPDATE: Another alternate ending revealed a different character from the Alien franchise almost returned:
The Return of Rebecca "Newt" Jorden Too
The role of Ellen Ripley wasn't the only character Breanna Watkins played on the set of The Predator. Another alternate ending used the actress to play Rebecca Jorden, who you might know better as Newt from Aliens, the child who was the sole survivor of the xenomorph attacks on an established colony on LV-426 before the United States Colonial Marine Corps unit was dispatched to investigate incident.
This is even more confusing than bringing Ellen Ripley back, because Alien 3 revealed that Newt drowned in her cryotube. So either there would need to be a parallel dimension where she lived, or time travel would have been used to ensure her survival somehow. Neither explanation makes any sense whatsoever.
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As it stands, there was already a better alternate ending for The Predator that would have brought back Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dutch from the original Predator. But the actor didn't like having such a small part, so the sequel was forced to go with the ending we all saw in theaters.