Despite fears Sylvester Stallone’s Barney will die in The Expendables 4, a look at the actor’s franchise history makes that extremely unlikely. Perhaps more than any other A-list star, Stallone was very canny about crafting franchises for himself. This began almost accidentally, as he mounted Rocky II when his initial follow-ups to the original film underperformed. In the decades since, he’s made periodic returns to Rocky, Rambo, the Escape Plan series and The Expendables movies. He’s had a creative hand in nearly all of them too, having created the latter series as a way to unite iconic action stars from different eras.
The Expendables 4 will mark a major change in the series. Not only did Stallone have no hand in writing or directing it, but the series is also being handed over to Jason Statham’s Christmas for future entries. Given Stallone’s age, it makes sense he would want to dial back on the heavy physical requirements involved, but fans are already assuming his mercenary team leader Barney will meet his demise early on. While Stallone is stepping back from his Expendables duty, viewers will likely see him in future sequels.
Barney Will Definitely Survive Expendables 4
Story details for Expendables 4 have yet to be revealed, though it involves Statham working with a new team of mercs (including Megan Fox and 50 Cent) as they are drawn into a potential nuclear conflict between the U.S. and Russia. By the looks of it, Stallone will only appear in a few scenes of the fourth entry too. Instead of being killed and Christmas inheriting his crew of misfit soldiers, the more likely scenario is Barney is injured and decides to set down, or maybe the death of another “Expendable” leads him to retire.
With his past franchise roles, Stallone has always pulled back from definitively killing his characters off. Rambo was meant to die in First Blood and this was reportedly the plan for Last Blood, and while his fate is somewhat ambiguous in the latter, he’s still breathing when the credits roll. The title boxer was meant to die in Rocky V too, only for that ending to be scrapped. In fact, he hasn’t died in a live-action movie since 1978’s F.I.S.T., while Stallone essentially refused to kill any “Expendables” off as he doesn’t want audiences to leave his movies on a downer note.
Barney’s Best Role In Future Expendables Movies
With the above in mind, Stallone almost certainly wouldn’t sign off on Barney’s demise in The Expendables 4. If anything, pulling back from going on missions leaves Stallone free to make profitable guest appearances in future outings. Barney’s best future role in the saga would be similiar to Mickey Rourke’s Tool or Kelsey Grammer’s Bonaparte, being a mercenary recruiter/armorer who puts together missions for the team. He could also continue to offer sage advice to Christmas and the other members of the crew, or even show up to help them out of a jam during an operation.
