Summary

  • Predator 2's trophy wall scene, featuring a collection of skulls from different creatures, has become a fan-favorite moment in the franchise.
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger passed on Predator 2 due to his dislike of the hunter in a city concept, and Danny Glover was cast as the new hero.
  • The trophy room scene in Predator 2 is significant because it links the Predator to other alien movie franchises and sets the stage for potential spin-off projects.

The Predator 2 skulls on the trophy wall scene was a huge fan-favorite moment in the sci-fi horror movie. Arnold Schwarzenegger passed on Predator 2 as he disliked the idea of the hunter in a city. Instead, Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon) was cast as the new hero, a cop trying to solve a string of brutal murders during a Los Angeles heatwave. The sequel received mixed reviews and was a box-office disappointment, though it's been reappraised as an enjoyable follow-up. The movie was referenced in 2018's The Predator with Sean Keyes, the son of Predator 2's deceased agent Peter Keyes, continuing his father's work studying the hunters.

Predator director John McTiernan, who also helmed Die Hard, cut out a number of sequences from the original Predator script, including Schwarzenegger's Dutch finding a cloaked Predator ship filled with skulls and trophies. This concept was revised for Predator 2 with the final showdown featuring Glover's cop tracking the hunter to his craft. One of the most memorable scenes of the sequel has Glover discovering the Predator 2 trophy wall, which is littered with skulls both human and alien. The collection of Predator 2 skulls also set up several moments in future movies.

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The Skulls In The Predator 2 Trophy Room Are Still Mysterious

Predator 2 xenomorph skull.

The most famous Predator 2 skulls on the trophy wall belongs to the Xenomorph itself, which felt like a natural crossover since Fox owned both franchises. At the time of the movie, this was just a nod to Aliens and fans, but it ended up becoming so much more as this Easter egg eventually led to 2004's Alien vs. Predator. In the shared universe, the Predators kidnap Xenomorph Queens and place them on random worlds for the aliens to conquer which allowed them an infinite supply to hunt. It also meant they were responsible for the expanded threats of the Xenomorphs over time. This made it more than just another Easter egg in the end.

The human Predator 2 skulls belong to King Willie, the Jamaican Voodoo Posse leader who put up a fight against the hunter, and police officer Jerry Lambert (Bill Paxton). These were both characters from Predator 2. King Willie (Calvin Lockhart) was the drug lord who knew that the Predator was hunting him and a rival gang and agreed to meet with Harrigan, after which the Predator killed him. Jerry Lambert (Bill Paxton) was a police officer and part of Harrigan's team during the gang wars of 1997. He made a last stand against the Predator on a subway train when it killed him.

The other four Predator 2 skulls are alien but were seemingly created with no specific creature in mind. There's a huge creature that resembles a Jurassic Park-style T. Rex, but it has mandibles and four eyes. There's a skull that looks vaguely humanoid but with much larger features, and while it may not have been intended, it looks similar to H.R. Giger's Space Jockey design. Directly below this skull on the Predator 2 trophy wall is a smaller skull that looks like another form of Predator, and the final alien creature has some vicious-looking tusks. The Xenomorph skull alone suggested the Yautja Predators had been hunting for a very long time.

Why The Predator 2 Trophy Room Is So Important

Alien vs. Predator

Although the movie had its shortcomings, the Predator 2 trophy wall scene was still a crucial moment in the franchise because of its ambitious reach. By linking the Predator to another alien movie franchise with the Xenomorph skull and to a few other yet-unknown worlds with the other trophies, Predator 2 gave its terrifying hunter the potential for many more spin-off projects – a near-unprecedented move at the time.

The Alien vs. Predator concept hasn't had much success so far, but there's the potential for an Alien vs. Predator reboot to work out better in the future. Prey beautifully illustrated that the concept of the Yautja hunter hasn't lost its appeal, and the mystery of the remaining skulls is still a tantalizing one. Prey even showed the Predator's affinity for keeping skulls as trophies. For all of these reasons, Predator 2 did its title creature and the wider intellectual property a huge favor with the trophy room scene.