Clever sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch loves to wink at the audience, but its most bizarre gag involves an unexpected cameo from iconic WWE wrestler Hulk Hogan. 1984’s original Gremlins movie brought the cute mogwai Gizmo and his evil gremlin counterparts to the small town of Kingston Falls, New York. In the process of doing so, Gremlins became one of the most beloved mixes of horror and comedy ever made. It took six years, but 1990 finally saw the release of a sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch.
Once again directed by Joe Dante, Gremlins 2 transports the action - and Gremlins’ main characters - to a skyscraper in New York City, a far cry from the quiet atmosphere of Kingston Falls. Gremlins 2 also ramped up the comedy even more, incorporating numerous pop culture references, various new types of gremlin creatures, and many meta jokes that serve to not only break, but shatter the fourth wall. Gremlins 2 earned fairly good reviews at the time, but audiences didn’t flock to it, and the movie was a mild flop at the box office.
Thankfully, the years since have been kind to Gremlins 2, with many fans revisiting it to find an actually quite entertaining, if relentlessly silly, sequel. One of The New Batch’s best and simultaneously most weird moments sees the titular monsters interact with none other than “The Hulkster” Hulk Hogan.
Gremlins 2’s Hulk Hogan Cameo Is Wonderfully Bizarre
Even for those who’ve never watched professional wrestling, Hulk Hogan likely needs no introduction. He managed to transcend the scripted sport to become an all-around pop culture icon, particularly during his heyday in the 1980s and 1990s. Hogan also went on to dabble in acting, here and there, and was no stranger to a movie set by the time he filmed his Gremlins 2 cameo. It’s unclear how exactly Hogan ended up part of the film, but Dante wanting to recruit him isn’t too surprising, as Hogan was legitimately a worldwide megastar at that point.
In a Gremlins 2 sequence that gets extremely meta, the gremlins break into the projection room showing Gremlins 2, turn it off, and put something else on. The manager of the theater then finds Hulk Hogan in the audience, who stands up, tears off his shirt, and threatens to unleash his 24-inch pythons on the gremlins if they don’t put Gremlins 2 back on. This threat works, and Hogan sits back down to continue watching the film with everyone else. Interestingly, since this is a joke that doesn’t necessarily work unless Gremlins 2 is being watched in a theater, the Hogan cameo was removed from early home video releases and replaced with a sequence involving John Wayne. The Hogan scene has thankfully been restored on more recent DVD and Blu-Ray editions.
More: Why Tim Burton Didn’t Direct Gremlins
