The Expendables franchise can only return to its former glory by bringing one specific action hero into its ensemble. The Expendables series is a loving throwback to ’80s and ’90s action movies, but the series hit its first real stumble with the disappointment of The Expendables 3. While The Expendables 4 had hoped to be the long-awaited comeback for the franchise, it instead became the lowest-grossing and most poorly received movie in the series.
A key feature of The Expendables franchise is its ensemble cast, with each Expendables movie starring many action movie stars of the ’80, ’90s, and 2000’s.The Expendables 4, in particular, brought Tony Jaa and Iko Uwais aboard. However, with the huge box office downturn and generally terrible reception of The Expendables 4, if The Expendables 5 is greenlit, the only shot it could have at re-invigorating the series is to enlist one action star who has been surprisingly absent from a series like The Expendables. For The Expendables 5, that is none other than Jackie Chan.
Why The Expendables Franchise Never Got Jackie Chan On-Board
Jackie Chan Isn’t A New Name For The Expendables Franchise
While Sylvester Stallone has reportedly tried to bring Jackie Chan into The Expendables franchise numerous times, the two were never able to come to an agreement for a variety of reasons. Scheduling conflicts with Chinese Zodiac prevented Chan from taking up Stallone’s offer for The Expendables 2, while Chan also didn’t appear in The Expendables 3 due to his desire to play a more significant role in the story. That might also shed more light on why Chan has yet to finally appear in an Expendables movie.
Chan has been outspoken about his interest in a buddy movie or action movie double-header with Stallone rather than an ensemble like The Expendables. That exact scenario almost happened when Stallone approached Chan to play Simon Phoenix in 1993’s Demolition Man, which Chan declined due to his reluctance to play villains. However, with where The Expendables franchise currently stands, the series needs Jackie Chan more than ever.
Why Jackie Chan Is The Only Shot Left For An Expendables Comeback
The Expendables 5 Needs All The Help It Can Get
The Expendables franchise started off strong with its first two installments, with The Expendables 2 being both the most acclaimed and financially successful installment of the series. However, the significant downturn of The Expendables 3 has widely been attributed to its PG-13 rating. Unfortunately, The Expendables 3‘s poor box office led to the franchise going on hiatus until 2023’s The Expendables 4, which arguably did more harm than good for it.
The nine-year gap before The Expendables 4 took much of the action movie event-level hype out of the sequel’s release, with the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike also, unfortunately, preventing the cast from doing the usual press tour for the movie. These factors, combined with the movie’s generally negative reception, led to The Expendables 4 becoming a major box office bomb. With that combination of factors working against it, The Expendables 5 needs to sell itself as the biggest event of the series. Jackie Chan joining the franchise could do exactly that, but his role should also go one step further to give The Expendables 5 that much more of a novelty.
Why Jackie Chan Should Be The Villain Of The Expendables 5
Jackie Chan Has A History Of Being A Hero In Movies
Jackie Chan’s career has primarily been defined by his roles as underdog heroes in action comedies, while Chan has also begun to take on more dramatic and even darker action roles in his 21st-century career. While this has given Jackie Chan the image of the quintessential action movie Nice Guy (to the point of Chan’s filmography even including 1997’s Mr. Nice Guy), Jackie Chan’s reluctance to take on villain roles is the last real frontier of his long career. In short, The Expendables 5 would become one of the biggest action movie curveballs ever made by casting Jackie Chan as its villain.
Indeed, a villain is such an against-type role for Chan; it’s arguable that Jackie Chan needs to play a major villain before retiring. An action movie ensemble like The Expendables 5 could be the perfect place for Chan to do so and finally work with Stallone as well, presuming Stallone would also be amenable to returning as Barney Ross after declaring The Expendables 4 his last movie in the series. With Jackie Chan having only played two villains in his whole career, Chan, as the villain of The Expendables 5, would check so many boxes for him, Stallone, and The Expendables franchise all in one fell swoop.
