Adrien Brody as Royce, an ex-military U.S. Army Special Forces soldier turned mercenary who reluctantly assumes leadership of the group of humans.[16][17] Brody claimed he had been "blown away" by Predator and viewed his role as a challenge, wanting to bring a complexity to the character that would contrast with Schwarzenegger's role in the original film.[18] He did put on twenty-five pounds (11 kg) of muscle for the role, stating that "I want it to be entertaining and part of the ride that people see when they see a movie like that. But that's not really why I'm in it and that's not really what I brought to it. I brought the same kind of discipline that I would to a film like The Pianist."[18] Antal and Rodriguez specifically wanted to avoid casting an actor physically similar to Schwarzenegger, wanting to "go in a very different direction" and reasoning that real-life soldiers are wiry and tough rather than burly.[19] "We thought casting a physically 'Schwarzenegger-esque' character would have done the original film a disservice", said Antal, "and would have done this film a disservice because we are not trying to remake or copy the original film. I told everybody early on that I can make anybody look tough. What I can't do is teach them how to act".[20] Brody has expressed interest in reprising his role in future sequels.[18]