The Expendables 4 has cast 50 Cent, Megan Fox, and Tony Jaa to play brand new characters, marking a shift from the franchise’s past focus on old-school action stars. Officially announced by Lionsgate after numerous teases from franchise star and creator Sylvester Stallone, the film will be the first entry in the action series since 2014’s The Expendables 3. It sounds like The Expendables 4 may be taking a slightly different approach than the previous films, with only a handful of the old crew confirmed to be returning so far, and the new additions of younger stars like Fox and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.
First and foremost, The Expendables has always been about paying homage to the 1980s and 1990s heyday of action movies. Action stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Harrison Ford, Wesley Snipes, Dolph Lundgren, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and many others have featured in the franchise over the years. So why does The Expendables 4 seem to be moving away from the older action stars and centering other actors like Jackson and Fox?
In all likelihood, the introduction of more actors outside the classic action movie realm is meant both to expand the relevance of The Expendables 4 and to give it a different feel than the previous films. While the retro, macho, bloody action of the original trilogy was great fun for fans of the genre, the series sort of ran out of places to go by the end of the third film – which was also the worst-performing entry at the box office. In short, The Expendables 4 needs to change things up if it’s going to be more than just a retread of its predecessors.
Adding in new talent like Fox, Jaa, and 50 Cent is a great way to do that, as it opens up opportunities for different characters to take the stage and new kinds of stories to be told. With Stallone, Statham, Lundgren and Randy Couture all confirmed to be returning, there’s no doubt that The Expendables 4 will still have plenty of the action and nostalgia the series is known for. But allowing space for other kinds of characters could open the franchise up to new fans and keep the film from falling into the same pitfalls as The Expendables 3.
Plus, it’s not like Fox and Jackson are strangers to the action movie genre. Fox rose to fame as one of the leads of the Transformers franchise, which practically defined the genre for better or worse during the mid-2000s. 50 Cent is also a veteran of action movies, having appeared in films like Escape Plan and Den of Thieves. And Jaa is an incredibly prolific martial artist with plenty of action credits to his name. With many of the older Expendables stars likely not returning due to age or scheduling conflicts, the new cast members could be exactly what The Expendables 4 needs.