These Iconic Movie Monsters Almost Looked COMPLETELY Different — And We're Still Shook

The Xenomorph Almost Came From A Different Artist Entirely — And Looked Like A Giant Crab

Before H.R. Giger ever touched the project, concept artist Ron Cobb had already designed a version of the creature that Ridley Scott just wasn't feeling. Once Scott discovered Giger's nightmarish 1976 painting Necronom IV, everything changed — the elongated head and biomechanical body we know today came almost directly from that single artwork, with the acid blood and inner jaw added later as finishing touches.

Jaws' Shark Was Supposed To Be The Whole Movie — Then It Sank To The Ocean Floor

The mechanical shark nicknamed 'Bruce' was built and tested only in freshwater, so the moment it hit the salty waters off Martha's Vineyard, it corroded, seized up, and literally sank on its first day of work. With a broken monster on his hands, a 27-year-old Spielberg had no choice but to shoot around it, leaning on POV shots and John Williams' score instead — accidentally inventing the less-is-more suspense style the film is now famous for.

Jean-Claude Van Damme Was Actually Cast As The Predator — In A Suit So Bad Even The Director Panicked

Van Damme signed on expecting to show off his martial arts moves as a lean, agile alien hunter, but the original stealthy, insectoid costume was reportedly so unworkable that director John McTiernan and producer Joel Silver looked at it and knew they were in trouble. The whole thing was scrapped, and Stan Winston's team rebuilt the creature from scratch around a much taller performer, seven-foot-three Kevin Peter Hall, giving us the mandibled hunter audiences actually got in theaters.

Chewbacca Basically Started Out As George Lucas's Dog With A Bowcaster

George Lucas has said the idea for Han Solo's co-pilot came from his real Alaskan Malamute, Indiana, a dog so big it used to ride shotgun in his car like a passenger. Early Chewbacca concept art leaned hard into that inspiration with perkier ears and a more dog-like face before the design settled into the more ape-like, expressive Wookiee that made it to screen.

Gizmo Was Almost A Horror Villain — Until Spielberg Wanted A Cuter Dog-Faced Mogwai

In earlier drafts, the sweet little Mogwai who becomes Gizmo was originally slated to be the very creature that transforms into the villain Stripe. Steven Spielberg reportedly pushed to make him resemble his own dog and stay cute and good instead, while designer Chris Walas' first sketches were based on tarsiers and even a floppy-eared 'puppy' version before landing on the bat-eared look everyone knows.