20 Things You Didn't Know About The Predator
8. The Predator Films Have Several Sly Connections
In 1987, Shane Black was a budding screenwriter who happened to also act. He was brought into the cast of Predator to play Hawkins (the nerdy soldier with the glasses) more for the former than the latter, with the thought that if the script needed tweaking during filming, Black could be the go-to.
After Predator, Black stuck mostly to film-making, and subsequently wrote or directed some of the best action movies in history - Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout (which he frequently wrote during breaks in Predator filming,) The Hunt for Red October, Kiss Kiss Bang, Bang, and Iron Man 3.
Black came full circle when he directed 2018's The Predator, putting him behind the camera to work with the same creature who had killed and gutted him 30 years before.
Black cast Jake Busey in a small role as Doctor Sean Keyes, one of the scientists in charge of the Predator project. Although it was never directly stated, Keyes is the son of Peter Keyes, the NSA agent from Predator 2 who tried in vain to capture and study the Los Angeles Predator. Peter Keyes was played by Busey's real-life father Gary Busey.
Also, in a blink and you'll miss it moment, the Alien tail-spear made for Lex in Alien vs Predator appears on the wall of the lab in The Predator.