New Rambo V: Last Blood Images Reveal Rambo's Adopted Family

Screen Rant

By Padraig Cotter

Published Feb 4, 2019

Sylvester Stallone reveals new photos of Rambo's adopted family in Rambo V: Last Blood. Gabriella's kidnapping sparks a rescue mission.

Sylvester Stallone revealed a first look at Rambo’s adopted family in Rambo V: Last Blood. The previous Rambo movie ended with the title character returning home after spending decades in self-imposed exile. Last Blood finds him working with horses on his family farm when a kidnapping sparks him on a rescue mission to Mexico. During his quest, he’ll partner with a reporter played by Paz Vega, whose sister has also been kidnapped, but Rambo will also find age has weathered some of his lethal edge.

There was a time when it looked like Rambo V wouldn’t happen at all. Stallone’s first attempt at a fifth movie was to try and break away from dropping the character into another warzone, and instead, he wanted Rambo to fight a genetically engineered creature. Following a backlash to that concept from fans, he instead focused on the Mexico rescue mission idea. The project languished in development for years while he worked on other movies. It recently came to light that when an alternate, "soulful" pitch he came up with in collaboration with Rambo’s creator David Morrell was rejected by producers, Stallone retired from the character. Something must have changed his mind in the interim, as he’s dusted off Rambo’s knife for one last adventure.

Recently, Rambo V: Last Blood wrapped filming, with Stallone posting what appeared to be a farewell video to the character. He’s also sharing lots of photos from the sequel on his Instagram account and now’s he revealed a first look at Rambo’s "adopted" family, Maria (Adriana Barraza) and Gabriella (Yvette Monreal). Gabriella's kidnapping is what kicks the story off.

The story of Rambo V is relatively straightforward, though it appears Stallone is also wrapping up his action hero legacy. Following the release of Creed 2, he posted an emotional farewell to the character of Rocky Balboa and stated he’s officially retired from the role. Last Blood has all the hallmarks of being a final farewell to Rambo also, and there’s even a chance the character may not survive this time around.

Reports suggest The Expendables 4 will mark the end of that series too. That’s not to say the actor won’t be keeping busy beyond finishing up his old franchises. He’s still planning on turning Hunter - a horror novel that formed the basis of his rejected monster pitch for Rambo V: Last Blood - into a movie, in addition to a "dark" take on the superhero genre dubbed Samaritan. Escape Plan 3: Devil’s Station is also due for release sometime in 2019.