Sylvester Stallone is ready to move on from The Expendables franchise

Sylvester Stallone took to Instagram on Friday to bid a bittersweet farewell to The Expendables franchise. The actor helped to launch the action series nearly twelve years ago, but it seems that he’s ready to leave it behind.

Production on The Expendables 4 will continue, but Sylvester Stallone has wrapped and said that “it’s time to be movin’ on” from The Expendables. Stallone added that he’s “ready to pass the baton on to Jason [Statham] and his capable hands.” Should there be another installment of the franchise, it’s possible that Staham might just be the new face of the series. Stallone walked through the set and spoke of the “heart, energy, and humour” he hopes to bring to all his projects.

The greatest thing is being able to provide films and entertainment [where] maybe there’s a little message in there, because what I try to convey in my successful films is the human touch, the bond. Not so much the action, the action is self-evident, but just relating to the audience in a way they can identify with whatever the mission is with the characters at hand.

Although Sylvester Stallone may be done with The Expendables, he teased that he’s “getting ready to accept the next challenge.” The Expendables 4 will feature Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, and Andy Garcia. The film is being directed by Scott Waugh from a screenplay by Spenser Cohen with revisions by Max Adams and John Joseph Connolly.

Before Sylvester Stallone is seen as Barney Ross one last time, he’ll be tackling the superhero genre with Samaritan. Directed by Overlord’s Julius Avery, the film deals with a young boy who suspects that a once famous superhero who went missing twenty years ago may still be around. Our own Chris Bumbray caught a look at the film at CinemaCon earlier this year and was blown away. Samaritan will hit theaters on August 26, 2022.