How ‘Iron Man 3,’ ‘Logan,’ and ‘The Dark Knight’ Inspired ‘The Predator’

The Predator lands in theaters this fall and aims to reboot the franchise, bringing the sci-fi franchise to its former glory. The core alien character at the heart of the series has been featured in many comics, though filmmaker Shane Black found inspiration in surprising places, claiming that Iron Man 3, Logan, and The Dark Knight all played a part in creating this new chapter in the franchise.

Thanks to films like Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Black established his abilities at blending humor with action, which earned him the opportunity to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe by directing Iron Man 3. Black’s experiences collaborating with Robert Downey Jr. on that film and their tendency to inject new ideas while shooting played a major part in filming The Predator.

“On Iron Man, Downey would be like, ‘Time!’ and I’d be like, ‘We’re shooting!’ and he’d be, ‘No, shut the cameras,’ and we’d go back to the trailer and we’d all write because he wanted new lines,” Black shared with Collider. “I mean, maybe it’s a little bit of that. Maybe I took a lesson from him. We’ve had a great deal of fun incorporating input from talented people who haven’t been looking at the same pages for two years.”

The intergalactic hunter might have the film named after it, but Black emphasized that talent like Thomas Jane, Olivia Munn, and Keegan-Michael Key will offer audiences compelling characters to go with the intense action.

“It wasn’t just an action movie, I thought. I think Logan’s actually not a bad model in terms of the time spent offering you satisfying action, but also visceral action and then also spending time on a surprising character piece,” Black shared of the film. “Y’know, if we can do half their business I’d be thrilled.”

Black himself might not have made this connection, but star Boyd Holbrook compared The Predator to The Dark Knight in the ways a narrative can take familiar elements and deliver audiences an all-new experience, thanks to the right filmmaker.

“When people talk about reinventing, and I think Christopher Nolan is really the only person that’s really taken a franchise that people love and give it a complete freshness [with The Dark Knight], I think that’s what Shane is doing with this,” the actor shared. “Taking elements that already exist, pre-existing in the past franchise, and reinventing them.”

Fans will see how these influenced impacted the film when The Predator lands in theaters on September 14th.

Do these influences have you more excited about the upcoming film? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

[H/T Collider]