The Predator franchise has been around for decades, resulting in some surprising casting that fans might have forgotten. The original Predator from 1987 helped solidify Arnold Schwarzenegger as the action star of the 1980s, and he was joined by an ensemble of muscle-bound actors. While Schwarzenegger never returned to the Predator franchise, other actors filled in.
The Predator movies have seen a surprising array of lead actors, from action movie veteran Danny Glover to Oscar-winner Adrien Brody to newcomer Amber Midthunder. However, it is the supporting cast of these Predator sequels that is even more interesting, as there are some notable names who have appeared in these movies and have been overlooked.
Laurence Fishburne
Laurence Fishburne already established himself as an action movie star with his iconic role as Morpheus in The Matrix franchise long before he joined the Predator movies. He had a long and versatile career that led to an Oscar nomination for his performance as Ike Turner in What’s Love Got to Do with It.
Fishburne’s career goes back to when he was just a teenager, appearing in the legendary war movie Apocalypse Now. He went on to roles in the likes of Boyz N the Hood, Mystic River, and Contagion. Aside from The Matrix and Predator, he is no stranger to massive franchises, appearing in the DCEU, the MCU, and the Mission: Impossible movies.
Fishburne had a smaller supporting role in the underrated Predator sequel, Predators. The movie takes place on an alien planet used as a hunting ground for the Predators. Fishburne plays Noland, a human who has been living in hiding on the planet for years. Fishburne brings a lively energy to the role, filled with menace and eccentricity.
Gabriel LaBelle
Gabriel LaBelle is a young actor who has built a surprising niche for himself, playing younger versions of famous creative geniuses, as seen in his two most famous roles so far. LaBelle found his breakout role in The Fabelmans, a loose autobiographical movie about Steven Spielberg’s childhood, with LaBelle playing the lead.
Following the attention he received for that role, LaBelle was cast in Saturday Night, playing Lorne Michaels in the dramatization of the first episode of Saturday Night Live. LaBelle also starred in the charming coming-of-age comedy Snack Shack in 2024. However, one of his earliest roles was in 2018’s The Predator.
The Predator sequel took the action to the suburbs, which LaBelle’s brief role helped to highlight. LaBelle only appears briefly as a young bully named EJ, who teases young Rory (Jacob Tremblay) as he trick-or-treats, unknowingly, while using a Predator mask. When EJ gets a glimpse of the mask’s weaponry, he quickly leaves Rory alone.
Olivia Munn
Olivia Munn has had an impressive career that has highlighted her talents in both dramas and comedies. She got her start as host of Attack of the Show as well as a correspondent on The Daily Show. However, her acting career took off with her role as Sloan Sabbath in the Aaron Sorkin drama series The Newsroom.
Munn has appeared in notable movies like Magic Mike and Office Christmas Party, while also playing the role of Psylocke in the Fox X-Men universe. Munn can most recently be seen in the Apple TV+ series Your Friends and Neighbors alongside Jon Hamm. Munn was another notable actor to appear in the critically derided The Predator, starring as Casey Brackett.
Casey is a scientist who is brought in to examine a captured Predator alien who has appeared on Earth and soon joins the other heroes in trying to stop the destructive aliens. Munn even gets to play around with the famous Predator quote, examining the monster for the first time and proclaiming, “You are one beautiful motherf**ker.”
Alfie Allen
The Predator has a lot of issues, but one of the strongest aspects is the cast. The movie centers around a group of troubled military veterans who become the unlikely team facing off with the extraterrestrial hunter. The ensemble is filled with great actors, from Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight) to Keegan-Michael Key (Key and Peele).
However, the one member of this team that is the most overlooked is Alfie Allen. At this point, Allen had already had a strong following thanks to his amazing performance as Theon Greyjoy in the cast of Game of Thrones. The young actor continues to impress now that the show is done, in SAS: Rogue Heroes and Jojo Rabbit.
In The Predator, Allen plays Lynch, one of the members of the team who has an affinity for playing cards. Unfortunately, Lynch seems to have been the victim of The Predator‘s reshoots, as that is about as developed as his character gets, and he ends up being the first member of the main team to be killed.
Bill Paxton
Not only was Bill Paxton already a noteworthy actor by the time he starred in Predator 2, but the movie also gave him the distinction of being the only actor to be killed by a Terminator from the Terminator franchise, a Xenomorph from the Alien franchise, and a Predator from the Predator franchise.
Paxton appeared as one of the punks who first encountered Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 in the original The Terminator. He found a breakout role playing the scene-stealing Hudson in James Cameron’s Aliens. Predator 2 has him in another scene-stealing role, playing Detective Jerry Lambert.
Lambert injects a lot of fun into the Predator sequel with Paxton playing the role of a hot-shot young cop whose arrogance does not take away from his bravery. It feels like Lambert should have had a more substantial role, and it is a little disappointing that the movie loses him so early.
Sterling K. Brown
The Predator and Alien franchises have blended together in many interesting ways over the years, but Sterling K. Brown’s character in The Predator took something from the Alien franchise that has been there from the beginning. Despite the danger of these aliens, there are always those greedy humans who think they can control them.
In The Predator, Brown’s Will Traeger is one such character, a shady government agent who is more concerned with acquiring the Predator weaponry than the danger these aliens pose to the public. Coming off his acclaimed turn in the drama series This is Us, this villainous role was something different for Brown.
However, Brown’s performance is one of the highlights of The Predator. Rather than play the menacing and cold government agent that is typically seen with these types of roles, Brown brings considerable swagger to the role and a bit of humor, while still ensuring that Traeger is a threat.
Walton Goggins
Despite the fact that he has been around in the acting world for a long time, Walton Goggins has recently emerged as one of the most popular actors working today. Following his acclaimed work in shows like The Shield and Justified, Goggins has really gotten people’s attention with some more recent television roles.
Goggins helped to bring the beloved video game Fallout to the small screen, starring as Ghoul. Even more popular was his Emmy-nominated turn as part of the cast of The White Lotus season 3. However, even a supporting role like the one on Predators highlighted Goggins’ talents.
Predators finds a group of deadly humans brought to the alien planet as worthy prey for the hunters. While most of them are “bad guys”, Goggins’ Stans is the worst of them all, a racist convict and murderer who is not at all shy about showing his ugliness. However, as vile as Stans is, Goggins makes him an entertaining character.
Mahershala Ali
Just like Walton Goggins, Mahershala Ali is an award-winning actor who, prior to being a widely recognized star, was quietly hiding amid the supporting cast of Predators. As his third movie, Predators was a small stepping stone in Ali’s way to massive acclaim and success later.
Following strong supporting roles over the years, many people really took notice of Ali for his Oscar-winning turn in the powerful drama Moonlight. Only a couple of years later, Ali won his second Oscar for his performance as musician Donald Shirley in the Best Picture winner, Green Book.
In Predators, Ali was another formidable warrior who found himself being stalked by an even deadlier enemy. The character of the African soldier Mombasa provided Ali with the kind of stoic and powerful character the actor excels at playing. Unfortunately, it is another example of a stellar character killed off too quickly.
