Summary

• The Expendables franchise started strong with an impressive ensemble of legendary action stars in the first installment.
• The introduction of the "Young Expendables" in the third film set up a potential new direction for the franchise.
• However, The Expendables 4's lackluster performance and failure to capitalize on the young recruits led to its downfall.

Before The Avengers, the greatest crossover of all time might have been 2010's The Expendables. Directed by Sylvester Stallone, the over-the-top action flick's premise hinges on its impressive ensemble cast of legendary action stars. The first installment boasted not just Stallone, who plays Barney Ross — the leader of the titular elite group of mercenaries — but greats like Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Bruce Willis, and, notably, 2024's biggest action star, Jason Statham. While The Expendables is light on plot, its top-notch action sequences helped the film gross a staggering $274.5 million.

The Expendables 3 made just $214.7 million, starting the franchise's downward trajectory...

The first installment was so successful that it launched The Expendables film series. Co-written by Stallone, The Expendables 2 (2012) upped the ante by bringing in even more storied action stars, including Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. After the sequel grossed $315 million, the third installment was green-lit. Despite adding Wesley Snipes, Ronda Rousey, Victor Ortiz, and Harrison Ford to the mix, The Expendables 3 made just $214.7 million, starting the franchise's downward trajectory. And, instead of leaning into a new direction for the franchise, Expend4bles was a bloated box-office bomb.

The Young Expendables Were The Perfect Next Step For The Franchise

The Expendables 3 introduces viewers to John Smilee (The Twilight Saga's Kellan Lutz), a former US Marine. After Caesar (Terry Crews), the team's barrel-weapons expert, is injured, Stallone's Barney decides to disband the Expendables. In Las Vegas, he meets up with Bonaparte (Kelsey Grammar), a mercenary-turned-recruiter who helps Barney assemble a new team of younger mercenaries. In addition to Smilee, Barney welcomes nightclub bouncer Luna (Ronda Rousey), hacker Thorn (Glen Powell), and sharpshooter Mars (Victor Ortiz) to the crew. After the young mercenaries are captured, Barney teams up with the veteran mercenaries from other Expendables movies.

[At the end of Expandables 3], the full team of newcomers and veteran mercenaries celebrate their victory.

After the franchise's veteran action heroes save the younger mercenaries, everyone teams up to take down arms dealer and ex-Expendable Stonebanks (Mel Gibson) and his hordes of soldiers. Several dozen explosive action set-pieces later, Barney kills Stonebanks and the full team of newcomers and veteran mercenaries celebrate their victory. Needless to say, The Expendables 3 created the perfect setup for the franchise's next installment with the "Young Expendables." Smilee and the rest of the recruits were not only hand-picked by Barney Ross, but proved themselves more than capable when teaming up with the series' action-star vets.

Why Expendables 4 Ignored The Young Expendables

Despite The Expendables 4's extensive cast of characters, which boasted both new and returning faces, the franchise's fourth outing completely ignored the so-called "Young Expendables." At the end of The Expendables 3, Smilee even tells Barney that he wouldn't mind taking the reins when the time comes. While the fourth film adds brand-new characters, like former Army Special Forces operator Easy Day (Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson) and CIA operative Gina (Megan Fox), it fails to really acknowledge the third film's clear-cut setup. Even so, The Expendables franchise seems to know that it needs to shake things up.

[Statham's] films through 2017 [have generated] a combined total of over $1.5 billion in ticket sales.

After all, The Expendables 4's premise centers on Statham's Lee Christmas leading the mercenary group in the wake of Barney's apparent death. It's the kind of story that would have made more sense had the series continued to go all in on its younger mercenaries. Of course, there's no denying Jason Statham's star power and box-office pull; the actor and martial artist has been dubbed one of Hollywood's most bankable stars (via BBC), with his films through 2017 generating a combined total of over $1.5 billion in ticket sales. Lutz certainly doesn't have that draw, so it's possible Expend4bles was trying to play it safe with series and action-movie vets like Statham and Stallone.

Young Expendables Is Now Impossible