‘The Predator’ Director Shane Black Reveals The Tough, Surely Doomed Cast
The original 1987Predatoris one of those movies that I can’t stop watching once I see a frame of it. If John McTiernan’s action/horror/science fiction classic is on a screen near me, I will be drawn into its gravitational pull. There’s a special power in how it builds an atmosphere of macho excess before quickly nicking the whole thing, taking deranged pleasure in watching an ensemble of tough guys get completely obliterated for by an alien for two hours.
So while the Predator itself is important in aPredatormovie, its victims are even more important. So when directorShane Black(ofThe Nice GuysandIron Man 3fame) reveals the cast of the latest sequel, we should take note. Are we going to like these people enough to watch them get blown to pieces by an extraterrestrial menace that sees them as nothing more than trophies to be mounted on a spaceship wall?
We’ve been closely followingThe Predatoras Black has assembled his cast, noting his good taste and his canny ability to grab actors who feel like they’re about to blow up at any given moment. Cameras started rolling on the film today and Black shared a picture of his cast on Twitter, all in-character, all looking very tough, and all looking very ready to get turned into gory mincemeat.
Rather than go left to right, how about we run down these people from “most likely to get killed horribly by a Predator” to “least likely to get killed horribly by a Predator”?
First up isSterling K. Brown(far left), who won an Emmy for his incredible work inAmerican Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpsonand is currently starring on the acclaimed seriesThis is Us. He’s an incredible actor and he feels like he’s on the verge of serious stardom and he looks like the only person in the line-up who doesn’t know he’s about to walk into a war zone.
Next up isTrevante Rhodes(second from left), whose remarkable work in last year’sMoonlighthelped an unforgettable movie land a potentially tricky final act. He looks awfully tough here (and he’s armed!), but let’s face facts: this is probably a case of a wonderful leading man emerging from the indie world so he can die horribly in a Hollywood blockbuster.
And that brings us toKeegan-Michael Key(far right), the versatile actor best known for his brilliant work as one-half ofKey & Peele. He’s also a fine dramatic actor, having showcased his chops in last year’s underratedDon’t Think Twice. Unlike Brown, he’s armed with a gun and dressed for combat, but the fact that he’s a possible comedic presence suggests that he’ll die to prove that the Predator means business.
In the middle of the photo isBoyd Holbrook, the star of Netflix’sNarcoswho will soon be introduced to millions of people as the villain inLogan. He’s technically the lead here, so his odds of not getting horribly killed by a Predator are awfully high…but he’s also a father and you know that movies like this love to kill off fathers so they can prove to their sons that they’re true heroes and so on.
Right next to Holbrook isOlivia Munn, last seen inX-Men: Apocalypse. She looks ready for the situation at hand and she benefits from being the sole woman in the line-up – she’s not going to make any moves based on testosterone-fueled idiocy. She’ll live.
However, only one person in this picture will actually survive the filmfor sureand that isJacob Tremblay. Not because he’s an adorable child actor (and so very good inRoom), but because he’s the only one in the line-upwho could actually crush a Predator’s head with his bare hands in real life and to depict him as a victim would be thoroughly unrealistic.
