The villain of The Expendables 4 will be played by Indonesian martial arts legend Iko Uwais and he could embody a different kind of antagonist than the mercenaries have ever faced before. The action hero ensemble is set to return to theaters in 2022 after a long hiatus, no doubt eschewing the PG-13 rating that was the series' undoing in The Expendables 3. Franchise mainstays like Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, and Randy Couture are back, with new cast members including Uwais as the villain, along with 50 Cent, Megan Fox, and Uwais' Triple Threat co-star Tony Jaa.
Uwais is an obviously excellent addition to join The Expendables franchise, the Indonesian Silat virtuoso well-known for anchoring the modern action classics that are The Raid movies and many other amazing martial arts films. While The Night Comes For Us has been the only chance Uwais has really had to shine as an antagonist, The Expendables 4 could develop his Hollywood career and change that, showcasing him as a truly formidable villain. Moreover, Uwais could also be different from other villains in The Expendables franchise in one crucial way.
Behind-the-scenes photos show that Uwais will have a fight scene with Lee Christmas (Jason Statham) in The Expendables 4. Additionally, depending on whose side Tony Jaa is on, there's a pretty decent chance he and Uwais could face off, too, presenting a rematch from their brief but blazing battle in Triple Threat, which wasn't able to last too long due to their characters becoming allies. Add in Uwais being one of, if not, the most renowned Silat exponent in action movies today from his overall martial arts movies, and his villain in The Expendables 4 could be the one most willing and even eager to go hand-to-hand with his enemies himself.
The past arch-villains of The Expendables franchise have largely been henchmen-reliant, and those that have been more adept fighters have been more strategic in when and where they've used their fighting skills. In The Expendables, both General Garza (David Zayas) and James Munroe (Eric Roberts) were villains who let their own hired mercenaries handle things, and draw the Expendables' fire in gun battles and close-quarters fights with the team. The big boss of The Expendables 3, Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson), was more willing to jump into action himself, but the conflict was also more personal for him as the co-founder of the team, and he only fought Stallone's Barney Ross himself when his own team had been wiped out.
The Expendables 2 had strong villains in Jean-Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme) and his right-hand man Hector (Scott Adkins), who were also the most skilled martial artists among villains in the series thus far, each having his own showdown with Barney Ross and Lee Christmas respectively. Still, Vilain valued the loot he stood to gain from his plutonium-dealing plot first and foremost. Because of that and the availability of guns, he and Hector both picked their unarmed battles only when the time called for it.
As the team's arch-nemesis in The Expendables 4, Iko Uwais brings not just genuine Silat skills and the action hero chops that are a pre-requisite to be a villain of the franchise, but also something else. By the nature of his role and the potential of battles with both the grizzled Jason Statham and the martial artist Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais could end up being the first villain in the franchise with a genuine appetite for facing his enemies entirely with his fighting skill.