9 Franchise Characters Missing From Expendables 4 (2024)

The Expendables 4 is taking its mercenary team on a new mission, but not everyone will be back for the ride. The Expendables franchise is much more self-aware than most action movie series, acting a loving tribute to '80s and '90s action films with many of the action heroes of that era appearing throughout the franchise. The Expendables first debuted in 2010, with The Expendables 2 following in 2010 and The Expendables 3 in 2014, though the latter's underperformance would lead to a nine-year hiatus for the series.

Directed by Scott Waugh, The Expendables 4 brings many of the franchise's biggest players back into action, including Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, and Randy Couture, with Tony Jaa and Iko Uwais joining the series alongside 50 Cent and Megan Fox. However, despite being another action movie ensemble, numerous Expendables regulars will not return for The Expendables 4. Here is everyone from The Expendables franchise who could have returned for The Expendables 4, but don't appear for a variety of reasons.

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9 Jet Li

Jet Li was a core member of The Expendables right from the beginning as Yin Yang, but despite delivering numerous thrilling martial arts fights, Yang's presence declined as the series continued. Jet Li would appear briefly The Expendables 2 and even more briefly in The Expendables 3, which would establish that he had left the team for the mercenary unit led by Trench Mauser (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Yin Yang won't appear in The Expendables 4 either, which is likely due to the actor having largely stepped back from action movies to focus on his philanthropic work with numerous charities, including his own group, The One Foundation.

8 Terry Crews

The Expendables all carry heavy firepower, but none more so than Terry Crews's Hale Caesar, whose canon-rifle single-handedly makes an Expendables action scene louder and more explosive. Crews would return as Caesar in The Expendables 2 and The Expendables 3, but will not be back for The Expendables 4. Crews himself has been forthcoming about his decision to depart The Expendables series, explaining that he was pressured by a producer to drop a past sexual assault case, with Crews refusing to do so and sitting out The Expendables 4 as a result.

7 Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger's involvement with The Expendables franchise stretches back to his time as the governor of California, with Schwarzenegger filming his cameo as Trench Mauser while still in office. Schwarzenegger would later return in progressively more prominent roles in The Expendables 2 and The Expendables 3, with Trench and Stallone's Barney Ross engaging in a friendly rivalry mirroring Stallone and Schwarzenegger's own in the '80s and '90s. Schwarzenegger's Trench is not in The Expendables 4, with Schwarzenegger seemingly focused on numerous Netflix projects such as his series FUBAR.

6 Wesley Snipes

Wesley Snipes boarded The Expendables franchise a bit later than intended. Stallone originally offered Snipes the role of Hale Caesar in the first movie, with Snipes having to decline due to his tax issues at the time. Snipes eventually joined The Expendables 3 as Doc Death. The movie even included an overt joke about him being imprisoned due to "tax evasion." However, despite the enthusiasm Snipes brings to his portrayal of Doc Death in The Expendables 3, he won't be around for The Expendables 4.

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5 Harrison Ford

The Expendables 3 introduced a new government liaison for the team in Harrison Ford's Max Drummer, who took the place of Bruce Willis's Mr. Church. Ford was well-suited for the action ensemble of The Expendables 3, bringing a refined gruffness to Max Drummer's relationship with the team before aiding them directly with his helicopter piloting skills. However, while Ford reprises the role that made him a natural for The Expendables franchise in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, his will not be back as Max Drummer in The Expendables 4.

4 Antonio Banderas

Barney Ross went on a recruiting spree in The Expendables 3, and no one was more eager to join the team than Antonio Banderas' hilariously enthusiastic mercenary Galgo. While The Expendables franchise has always been cognizant of being an '80s action movie tribute, Banderas truly commits to the camp of the franchise, and is arguably one of the hightlights of The Expendables 3. But despite Galgo getting his wish to become an Expendable by the end of The Expendables 3, it seems he might have either left the team or departed on a solo mission, considering that Banderas isn't part of The Expendables 4 cast.

3 Ronda Rousey

Former MMA powerhouse Ronda Rousey would make the leap to action movies with back-to-back appearances as Luna in The Expendables 3 and Kara in Furious 7. While Rousey brings plenty of her dynamic MMA fighting skill to her fight scenes and gritty portrayal of Luna, she has since made a career shift from MMA to professional wrestling, with noticeably fewer action movie appearances since. Her most recent roles are 2018's Mile 22 and a brief cameo in 2019's Charlie's Angels. Her focus on her pro-wrestling career and apparent lack of interest in movie roles could account for Rousey's absence from The Expendables 4. Not only that, but The Expendables 4's cast doesn't include any of the third movie's new characters. It could be that the only returning characters Stallone wanted were original cast members.

2 Glen Powell

During , Glen Powell's Thorn is one of the younger mercenaries Barney recruits to the team, and he brings a sardonic sharpness true to his name in his role as a co-leader of sorts alongside Barney. Powell would subsequently appear as Hangman in the Tom Cruise-led action mega-hit Top Gun: Maverick. Similar to the situation with Banderas' character, Thorn and his teammates being officially inducted onto the team in The Expendables 3 won't lead to an appearance in The Expendables 4.

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1 Kellan Lutz

Also missing from The Expendables 4 is Kellan Lutz. The former Twilight star has done his share of action films, making two ventures to ancient Greece in Immortals and The Legend of Hercules, along with numerous other action roles - including one in The Expendables 3. In the movie, Lutz played John Smilee, another of the younger mercenaries recruited by Barney Ross and added to the main roster by the film's ending.