One of the fun little things Shane Black did to tie last year’s The Predator in with the franchise’s previous films was the casting of Jake Busey as a character named Sean Keyes, obviously the son of Gary Busey‘s character from Predator 2, Peter Keyes. It wasn’t just a wink-and-nod tribute to Jake’s real-life dad, but a firm connection to the 1990 sequel.

As it turns out, the connection was originally going to be made way more clear than it is in the finished cut of the movie, as Jake Busey just noted in a chat with MEAWW.com.

“I am really fortunate that the director asked for me to do it because he wanted to have a referential moment and integrate Predator 2 with The Predator,” Busey told the site. “But in the end, they cut all my interesting stuff and most importantly the references to my dad.”

The site details…

“On describing the tribute scene, which we did not see on the film, Jake explains that it was that moment when Olivia Munn, who plays Casey Bracket, is scrolling through the tablet. Right after Sterling K. Brown, who plays Traeger, talks about the operative who saw the aliens, Gary’s picture would pop on the tablet and Sterling would cite him as one of the founders of the Stargate.”

“It was the moment in the lab when she looks at the picture of my dad, as Peter Keyes, and then looks up at me, and gets this look of recognition on her face,” Busey explained. “The audience would have gotten to see my dad and me in the same frame and the tongue in cheek aspect of it, that both of us were of the same age when we filmed the Predator movies.”

He added, “A timeline would be established for the fans who would’ve been glad that my dad’s character was back. I was really excited. The reason why they cut it all out is because they did not understand how cool it was.”

At this point, the version of The Predator that *didn’t* get made is almost legendary, with so many cool bits and ideas (including the arrival of Ellen Ripley!) left on the cutting room floor.

Sadly, none of this deleted content is available on home video. Sigh.