Does Rambo: Last Blood include a post-credits scene? Thirty-seven years after he originated the role in 1982's First Blood (an adaptation of David Morrell's 1972 novel), Sylvester Stallone returns to play traumatized Vietnam War veteran John Rambo for the fifth time in Last Blood. As its title implies, the film is meant to serve as the swan song to Sly's run on the franchise, with its trailers evoking Logan and similarly violent dramas about warriors who must enter the battlefield one last time. That doesn't mean the Rambo franchise is necessarily done for good, though, what with Stallone actively talking up his idea for a Rambo prequel.
Written by Stallone and Matt Cirulnick (Absentia), with Adrian Grunberg (Get the Gringo) directing, Rambo: Last Blood follows John as he heads down to Mexico to save his surrogate daughter Gabrielle (Yvette Monreal), after she's captured by a drug cartel that deals in sex trafficking. It's the first Rambo film produced since the confusing-titled Rambo was released in 2008, and took on several different forms over the course of its development. At a certain point, it even pitted John against a deadly monster in a script known as Rambo V: The Savage Hunt.
For those who are wondering, Rambo: Last Blood has a credits scene... sorta. The first half of the end credits are set to a montage of clips that recap the events of the Rambo film series, including (curiously enough) Last Blood itself. However, the montage then concludes with some additional footage that sheds more light on what, exactly, happened after the final shot of Last Blood proper.
A big part of the reason why Last Blood took so long to happen can be chalked up to Stallone going continuously back and forth on whether he should revisit the John Rambo character again after 2008's Rambo. That film concluded with John returning home (in more than one sense) to his estranged father's ranch in Arizona, with the intention of living out the rest of his days in peace. It didn't provide a definitive ending to Rambo's story, but many fans (Sly included) felt that it was as good a way as any to retire the character. That may explain why Last Blood (without getting into spoilers) takes a different approach to tying up its story threads.
With Rambo: Last Blood projected for a franchise-best box office opening, the financial incentive could be there for Sly to find a way to keep the brand alive and well (with, again, a prequel being one way). Reviews have been negative so far, but that was also the case with the other Rambo sequels, and it hasn't stopped the property from lasting nearly forty years already. Either way, those who see Rambo: Last Blood in theaters ought to hang around for the credits, especially since it may well be the last they see of John Rambo's world on the big screen (with Stallone playing him, anyway).
