While visiting the set for The Predator, The Nice Guys' director Shane Black's upcoming sequel to the 1987 sci-fi action classic Predator, Den of Geek spoke with Brian Prince, who plays one of the new Predators stalking suburbia and facing off against a Special Forces team lead by Quinn (Boyd Holbrook). Prince offered some insights into Predator physicality, including some surprising inspiration from the God of War video game series.
Prince was brought on as a Predator for his parkour skills. He puts a particular emphasis on emulating animal mannerisms. " I mixed in some hunting and primal elements with a lot of my parkour movements — a lot of jumping, vaulting, rolling around," Prince told Den of Geek. "I guess Shane liked it, because the next day they told me I got it. I was like, What? I was working minimum wage last year, and now I'm here!"
Prince also described the music he uses for Predator inspiration, particularly video game soundtracks. "Pumped up, angry—I called [the playlist] Destroy," Prince said. "I have a lot of stuff from the God of War games, because that character's a big inspiration for me. The main character of that game is Kratos, this big, tall warrior. He's very similar to what the Predator creature is, in my mind, so I use him as a reference and inspiration."
God of War, the fourth in a series pitting Kratos against pantheons of gods (from Norse mythology in the most recent entry), was released on April 20 and crushed PlayStation sales records. Unlike the Predator, which hunts alien species recreationally (humans included), Kratos fights against being a catspaw of the gods, making him a more reluctant killer. But it's easy to see how Kratos' ferocity and relentless attack style could inspire the performance of the galaxy's deadliest hunter.
"One of the things I had in mind was for the creature to look heavy, to look big, but also to be very mobile, kind of like a lion. A big creature... or a bear. You see one running at you, and you're like, 'Oh damn,'" Prince said.
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