Sylvester Stallone gives a positive update on the status of a Rambo prequel. The iconic actor/writer/director's career has spanned over five decades and shows no signs of stopping. His latest performance will be for Paramount+'s upcoming The Tulsa King series, where he plays a mob boss tasked with starting a criminal empire in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Recently he has been keeping busy with projects such as Amazon Prime's superhero drama, Samaritan, and providing the voice to DC fan-favorite King Shark, in James Gunn's critically-acclaimed The Suicide Squad.
Starting with 1982's First Blood, Stallone has turned the John Rambo character into one of his most iconic roles, joining the echelons of his immortal performance as Rocky Balboa. Over 40 years, the hardened Vietnam vet has taken on everyone from Soviet Russians in Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rambo III to the Mexican cartel in 2019's Rambo: Last Blood. While these sequels have their fans, the far-fetched concepts are a far cry from the somewhat grounded drama that made the original First Blood such a beloved film in the pantheon of '80s action cinema.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Stallone made it clear to fans that he remains optimistic about getting a prequel--focused on the life of John Rambo--made. However, the actor seems a bit unsure of what direction the prequel might take. See what Stallone had to say below:
I think it’s going to happen. I wanted to do it like a Ken Burns documentary on Vietnam, where you drop young Rambo in there, and he’s this outgoing guy, football captain, and then you see why he becomes Rambo. But what they want to do is a modern-day story where I pass the torch. That’s getting close.
What the Rambo Prequel Could Add To The Character
Rambo has often been a very solitary and silent character, with only hints of his true vulnerability showing in moments like the heart-wrenching final scene in First Blood to the first act of the most recent entry, Rambo: Last Blood. While it might be shocking to longtime fans to read Stallone's ideas of presenting a young Rambo as an outgoing "football captain," that approach might be just what the prequel needs to add further depth to an often one-note character. Furthermore, seeing Rambo as a young soldier and how he develops a relationship with a young Colonel Trautman (his mentor throughout the first three films) could make for some engaging drama.
While Rambo: Last Blood was a moderate hit at the box office in 2019, many critics and fans were somewhat displeased with the nihilism and brutality that perpetuated that last film. With a ridiculous amount of gore and a rather regressive political slant, perhaps a more character-driven prequel, as Stallone is alluding to, could put the heart back into the series that has been missing since the earlier Rambo entries. Whatever the approach, fans should be excited to hear that the story of John Rambo seems far from over and that Stallone, himself, will have a hand in his return.
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Source: The Hollywood Reporter