Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Predator: Killer of Killers!
Predator: Killer of Killers is finally setting up the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Dutch, but it also creates a major problem for the franchise. While the original protagonist of the Predator franchise was the first character seen to survive a Yautja, it took until a surprise change to this year’s animated anthology film for him to reappear.
The original ending of Predator: Killer of Killers was shocking, with the Viking Ursa getting captured by the Yautja rather than killed. She is placed into suspended animation and brought into a mᴀssive warehouse filled with other individuals who have killed Predators. The film ends with a look at one of the other champions who is in suspended animation: Naru, the protagonist of Prey.
However, the Predator: Badlands panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2025 revealed that Predator: Killer of Killers would be getting a new ending. Later that night, Hulu updated the film, with the movie also showing that Schwarzenegger’s Dutch and Danny Glover’s Mike Harrigan are in suspended animation chambers next to Naru. Thus, the Predator and Predator 2 protagonists are finally back.
Predator Will Have To De-Age Arnold Schwarzenegger In A Live-Action Return Now
Thanks To The Suspended Animation Chambers
Dutch’s return in Killer of Killers is incredibly exciting, as it means that Arnold Schwarzenegger can finally come back to the Predator franchise. It’s now canon that sometime after Dutch killed the Predator, the aliens returned to Earth, abducted him, and preserved him for future combat, as is clearly their practice. However, this justification for the character’s return creates a major issue.
Although Killer of Killers‘ main characters lived hundreds of years apart, each of the Yautja-killers is the same age that they were when they defeated their alien during the film’s final section. This is a product of the suspended animation chambers, allowing these characters from different time periods to come together.
This means that, if Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Dutch does return, he must be the same age that the character was in the original Predator. While Schwarzenegger was 40 years old when Predator was released in 1987, he is 78 now. This means that the actor would have to be seriously de-aged if he ever comes back in live-action, complicating his return outside of animation.
If Schwarzenegger is only back to lend his voice to a Predator: Killer of Killers sequel, given how well the first movie was received, audiences should be no less excited.
This makes Dutch appearing in Predator: Badlands seem unlikely, but there are some potential workarounds. If Dutch broke out of his chamber around 40 years prior to the events of Badlands, Schwarzenegger’s age would match up with perfectly with his character’s. Although, surviving on a Yautja planet for that long might be a stretch.
The other option, of course, is that Dutch could only appear in animated Predator projects. This would make the character’s age, as well as any action scenes, a lot easier to deal with. If Schwarzenegger is only back to lend his voice to a Predator: Killer of Killers sequel, given how well the first movie was received, audiences should be no less excited.
