Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch Schaefer was the driving force behind 1987's hit action-horror classic Predator, but Schwarzenegger was conspicuously absent from Schwarzenegger's Dutch Schaefer was nowhere to be found in the narrative, and there were few direct references to the first Predator.

With Schwarzenegger's star power nearing its apex at the time Predator 2 was released, it made sense for his character to return for the follow-up to Predator, and that was indeed how the movie was initially developed. However, early in the process, Schwarzenegger's Dutch Schaefer was written out of the story, and the role he would have occupied was minimized somewhat and given to another actor. Schwarzenegger's exclusion from the sequel ended up having far-reaching effects on the overall construction of the Predator franchise, even if it wasn't in the original plan.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Didn’t Return For Predator 2 Due To A Salary Dispute

A Decidedly Small Amount Of Money Couldn't Be Reconciled For His Return

Despite how much sense it made to have Dutch Schaefer for Predator 2, the reason that Arnold Schwarzenegger didn't return came down to money in the end. Producer John Davis (who has been a producer on all major Predator movies) told Variety in a 2022 interview that the head of the Fox studio had a dollar amount in mind that he refused to move from, which was unfortunately under the number that Schwarzenegger was seeking. Per Davis, the difference might have been as small as $250,000, but it ultimately kept the Austrian actor from returning to the franchise.

Schwarzenegger didn't miss a beat as far as his career was concerned; he starred in both Total Recall and Kindergarten Cop in 1990, the same year that Predator 2 hit theaters, and then the ultra-popular Terminator 2: Judgment Day just one year later. Meanwhile, Predator 2 pressed on without Schwarzenegger, and generated a decidedly disappointing total at the box office and middling (at best) reviews. While the addition of Schwarzenegger may not have fixed all the problems with Predator 2, some of the story and pacing issues at the very least could have been solved by focusing on Dutch instead.

Predator 2’s Original Script Before Featured Dutch As The Main Character

Schwarzenegger Would Have Teamed Up With An LAPD Police Officer

Director Stephen Hopkins' earliest vision for Predator 2 script would have featured Schwarzenegger's Dutch teaming up with Patrick Swayze in the role of LAPD police lieutenant Mike Harrigan. Schwarzenegger would have occupied the role that ultimately went to Gary Busey as Special Agent Peter Keyes, who posed as a DEA agent when, in reality, he and his team had knowledge of the Predator and sought to capture it. While they had specialized equipment and suits that worked against the creature's strengths, they all still met a grisly fate in the Predator's claws.

Steven Seagal was also considered for the role of Lt. Mike Harrigan in Predator 2, but Hopkins selected Glover as he was looking for more of an everyman character than Seagal envisioned for the role.

Danny Glover ultimately wound up in the role that would have gone to Patrick Swayze, as Hopkins had worked with him and Busey on Lethal Weapon. Originally, Lt. Harrigan would have been a secondary character while the script focused on Dutch and his pursuit of the Predator. However, once Schwarzenegger left the project, the script was altered so that Glover's Harrigan was the protagonist of the movie. It's unclear how significant the change in characterization was for Harrigan that they ultimately went forward with, but it's well-established that Dutch would have been the star.

How Predator 2 Would Have Been Different Had Schwarzenegger Returned

Dutch And His Knowledge Of The Predator Would Have Been Front And Center

As the only survivor of the massacre in Central America, it stands to reason that Gary Busey's Special Agent Keyes was only aware of how to fight (or potentially capture) the City Hunter in Predator 2 because of information disseminated by Dutch Schaefer. However, he and his men were still woefully outgunned by the creature, which they had not encountered before. If Dutch had returned for Predator 2, the entire dynamic of the cat-and-mouse game played by the City Hunter would have shifted, as there would have been a far more level playing field between the characters.

Thanks to Schwarzenegger's star power, it seems likely that Dutch would have once again prevailed over the Predator given his instincts and experience with the creature. That would have established him as a legitimate rival to the Predators, and changed the entire scope of the story. Predator 2 would have become almost a battle between equals, as opposed to the Predator running through outmatched opponents, just in a new setting. Dutch would have been more like Ripley in Aliens, making Predator 2 a legitimate continuation as opposed to the second part of what has essentially become an anthology.

What Happened To Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch After Predator In Canon

Some Of The Expanded Predator Universe Offers An Alternative Path For Dutch

In the direct canon related to the movie franchise, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch has an established, albeit somewhat uncertain ending. Per the Predator 2 novelization, Dutch contracted radiation poisoning from the self-destruct explosion set off by the jungle Predator that he defeated at the end of Predator. The Yautja triggered the explosion once he knew he was mortally wounded, very similar to how the City Hunter attempted to trigger his self-destruct device to kill himself and Harrigan at the conclusion of Predator 2.

In the canon, it seems that Dutch's story simply ends after he goes to the hospital following the events of Predator, as told in the Predator 2 novelization, although the door was left open for an eventual return.

For the radiation poisoning, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch was taken to a military hospital to receive treatment. However, he disappeared from that hospital, never to be seen again. Less-accepted pieces of the greater Predator canon, like the Alien vs. Predator video game, the theory that Dutch became the model for the T-800 Terminator, although that theory has been disputed ad nauseam. In the canon, it seems that Dutch's story simply ends after he goes to the hospital following the events of Predator, as told in the Predator 2 novelization, although the door was left open for an eventual return.

Source: Variety