Cast This: Rambo

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Sylvester Stallone recently returned to his most famous role of boxing legend Rocky Balboa to help train his late friend's son in CREED, but the actor is leaving his other iconic character in the past.

Although another RAMBO movie had been in development since Stallone directed himself blowing apart Burmese soldiers in 2008's simply but appropriately titled RAMBO, Sly eventually announced his retirement from the role: "The heart’s willing, but the body says, 'Stay home!' It’s like fighters that go back for one last round and get clobbered. Leave it to someone else."

John J. Rambo first appeared on screen in 1982 in the movie FIRST BLOOD, adapted from David Morrell's novel of the same name. A decorated Vietnam veteran and former Green Beret, Rambo runs afoul of a small-town sheriff department in Washington state, leading to a pursuit into the woods, some wounded deputies, and the destruction of the local police station via M60 machine gun.

While the first movie presented the character as a reluctant combatant and tackled the subject of post-traumatic stress disorder, the 1985 sequel RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II ejected all subtlety in favor of Stallone using his jacked physique to annihilate Vietnamese and Soviet troops on a mission to rescue POWs abandoned after the war.

In 1988's RAMBO III, the increasingly sweaty and muscular Rambo visits Afghanistan with the purpose of rescuing his former military commander Colonel Trautman from the Soviets, and ends up assisting the rebel Mujahedeen against the Russians during the Soviet-Afghan War. Apparently it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Twenty years later in RAMBO, the character's latest attempt at pacifism again gets cut short when his secluded life as a Thailand snake wrangler is interrupted by a group of missionaries trying to aid the Karen rebels in Burma. Prompted into action, Rambo puts his violent efficiency with bow, knife and heavy weaponry to good use and almost single-handedly massacres the nefarious Burmese army.

In addition to a toy line and numerous videogames, the character also appeared the 1986 cartoon series "Rambo: The Force of Freedom", in which the formerly R-rated murder machine battled the villainous organization S.A.V.A.G.E. (Specialist Administrators of Vengeance, Anarchy and Global Extortion) for children's afternoon entertainment.

After RAMBO, a fifth movie had been rumored with potential subtitles that included THE SAVAGE HUNT and LAST BLOOD. Then there was a Fox TV series in the works (exec produced by Stallone) that would have focused on Rambo and his ex-Navy SEAL son. But that seems to be shelved now and has been replaced by a reboot titled RAMBO: NEW BLOOD, with a younger actor to be cast as the titular hero.

So while fans may want Stallone to return as Rambo, a recasting is in the cards. But who could take on the role?

Stepping into Sly's shoes will be no easy feat, but I'll suggest: Jason Momoa ("Game of Thrones", CONAN), who has a simmering intensity as well as the physical capacity for action (plus he tangled with Stallone himself in BULLET TO THE HEAD). James Badge Dale is a solid actor with plenty of movie military experience (13 HOURS, WORLD WAR Z, SPECTRAL, HBO's "The Pacific"). On Showtime's series "Banshee", Antony Starr demonstrated a quiet ferocity and the ability to administer (and endure) a ton of punishment.

Let us know below who YOU think would make an awesome Rambo!

For the previous CAST THIS column, many of you preferred to see Wesley Snipes return to the role of BLADE. But since that isn't likely to happen, the top choices to replace him were:

1. John David Washington (HBO's "Ballers") 2. Michael Ealy 3. Michael Jai White