Comic Con 2012: Expendables 2 panel with Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Willis and more!

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

I was in the same room as Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Dolph Lundgren. Sure, 5,999 other people can say the same thing tonight but more than that, this was one of the craziest, most entertaining panels I’ve ever experienced at Comic Con.

Probably because it wasn’t so much a discussion about THE EXPENDABLES 2 as much as it was a showcase for Stallone and Schwarzenegger.  Terry Crews, Randy Couture and Lundgren were all there and each had their moments, but the two aging action stars owned Hall H and its inhabitants for one hour. Both men were engaged, self-deprecating, appreciative of the fans and absolutely hilarious. (Schwarzenegger is still stuck in smarmy political mode in the best way possible.) I will provide some highlights below, but I wish each and every one of you could’ve been there.

– Stallone claims action movies today suffer from “male pattern badness.” Each generation has to create their own heroes to fit the times, but today’s action stars have “Velcro muscles” where they’re aided by CGI and effects and not actual stunt work.

– Schwarzenegger: He and Sly were always competing over kill count, who did the best stunts, who had more muscles, and who had more oil on their muscles. Now they can finally work together on this and THE TOMB, which just finished filming.

– Arnold also said he and Stallone are such a good match because they have so many things in common, like muscles, physical fitness and the fact that nobody can understand them. “Sly was my English teacher when I came to America. Blame him. [does horrible Stallone impersonation]”

– Crews and Schwarzenegger worked together on THE SIXTH DAY and Arnold said he’s gained an unbelievable amount of muscle since then. He even mentioned ogling Crews in the gym, before realizing how that sounded.

– In ROCKY IV, Stallone told Dolph to go for realism and really hit him. He punched Sly so hard they had to fly him to a hospital where the doctor thought he was in a car accident. Stallone told him he got hit by a Volvo.

– The Governator was also very appreciative that the cast taught him how to fire a gun and throw a punch again after being gone for 8 years.  However, he didn’t forget the all the fun things, like how to kill a guy—“things you wish you could do in politics but can’t!”

– Someone asked Stallone about the three seashells in DEMOLITION MAN. He claims they’re supposed to be used “like chopsticks” according to the writer. Yikes.

– Everyone admitted that a villain is just as important as the main team and they thought Van Damme really brought it. Arnold claims he was doing six foot leaps the day he got there.

– A pair of Asian twins got up to ask about the sequel to TWINS. – Arnold says he wants to do it because he loves comedy so much and that they’re looking for a great writer.

– This prompted Arnold to begin quoting his own movies and interjecting lines randomly in to the next 4 or 5 answers. “It’s not a tumor!” “Who’s your daddy and what does he do?” It was almost like he was his own soundboard.

– Crews: Every week before the a game, he and his teammates would watch Stallone and Schwarzenegger movies to get pumped. Action movies are “like a religion”—you get your inspiration, your dreams, sense of justice, etc. from it.

– Stallone admits he got the name “Expendables” from a line in RAMBO 2. He said they could be called The Dependables soon enough.

– When asked who would win if all five got in to a fight, Sly said “Who has the best lawyer?” before admitting Randy Couture real life fighting skills would win out. 

– Stallone and Schwarzenegger admitted that their favorite movies of each other are JUNIOR and STOP! OR MY MOM WILL SHOOT. “Together we almost committed suicide.”

– Schwarzenegger claims that Sly is an amazing artist on the side, which embarrassed Stallone. “We’ve killed thousands of guys but we’re really painters.”

– As for the film itself, with the set up in the first movie out of the way, they know the tone and how to balance the characters better, so EX2 will amplify all the things that worked best. The story sees the team called in for an assignment, only to eventually get blackmailed and run in to trouble. With help from some extra friends (Arnold and Bruce Willis), they team up for a finale that is truly “remarkable.”  Stallone said he can’t believe everybody survived.

– Next, they showed a BRAND NEW CLIP from that final act: Van Damme is walking with his henchmen (one of whom I’m pretty sure is Scott Adkins), clearly having taken control of an airport or some other busy terminal. Suddenly the Expendables attack with Stallone, Willis and Schwarzenegger lined up firing guns. Chuck Norris is above them laying down cover fire, Dolph has a giant knife he’s gutting people with, and everyone else is doing their own thing. The sequence ends with the main trio deciding who should go after JCVD with this exchange:

Schwarzenegger: I’ll be back!
Bruce Willis: You’ve been back enough. I’ll be back!
Schwarzenegger: Yippee-ki-yay.

Prepare to bring a fresh pair of pants with you to the theater this August.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH OUR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS WITH DOLPH LUNDGREN, RANDY COUTURE AND TERRY CREWS