"I Don't Want To Be On Their Team:" The Rock's Dream Expendables Role Would've Saved The Sylvester Stallone Franchise

A decade ago, Dwayne Johnson named his dream role in an Expendables movie, and it may have been just what the Sylvester Stallone action franchise needed. The Expendables was initially conceived by screenwriter David Callaham as a standard actioner about a mercenary squad. But when Stallone took over as director and rewrote Callaham’s script, it evolved into something very different. The Expendables morphed into an affectionate throwback to old-school ‘80s action movies, featuring an all-star line-up of legendary ‘80s action stars alongside some modern movie stars like Jason Statham and Terry Crews for a love letter to the action genre.

The Expendables cast features ‘80s icons like Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lundgren, and Mickey Rourke, as well as more recent action stars like Wesley Snipes and Jet Li. The Expendables movies give action movie fans a chance to see all their favorite action stars in one place. Given his experience as an action hero and his star power as one of the world's biggest leading men, Dwayne Johnson would be a great addition to this ensemble. Johnson has even clearly thought about, and already confirmed that he wouldn’t want to be on Stallone’s team — but pit against them.

Dwayne Johnson Was Open To Be In The Expendables (But Only As A Villain)

"I Want To Hunt Every Single One Of Them Down"

In 2014, to promote the release of Hercules, Johnson did an AMA on Reddit. One user asked him if he’d be interested in joining the ever-expanding ensemble of The Expendables franchise and he replied that he would, with a twist: “I don’t want to be on their team... I want to hunt every single one of them down.” Johnson doesn’t want to play a member of Barney Ross’ merc squad; he wants to play a villain trying to take them down. He would join the ranks of fellow Expendables villains Eric Roberts, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Mel Gibson, and Andy García.

The only two heroes he’d spare would be Ronda Rousey, so his character would have a training partner, and Terry Crews, so they could have a pec-popping contest. There was never a formal offer or a pitch to Stallone, unless it was kept quiet — this was just The Rock answering a fan question — but it’s an intriguing what-if. While Johnson is having fun with the idea, there's something to the concept. This was in 2014, shortly before The Expendables 3 came out with Gibson as the baddie. Johnson would’ve made a great villain for the otherwise underwhelming Expend4bles.

The Rock Playing A Villain In One Of The Expendables Movies Would've Helped The Franchise

Johnson Could've Done For The Expendables What He Did For Fast & Furious

A villain played by The Rock could’ve been just what The Expendables franchise needed. Johnson could’ve had the same effect on The Expendables that he had on Fast & Furious when he debuted as Luke Hobbs in Fast Five: bringing something new and exciting that put the franchise back on the right track. Having a modern-day action hero as the bad guy, fighting the last generation of action heroes from the ‘80s and ‘90s, could’ve been an interesting meta-conflict to explore. Johnson could use the opportunity to poke fun at his own frequent archetypes, tweaking them slightly to become villainous.

Johnson has the experience to perform well against the rest of the cast. It would be fun to watch him bring his commanding presence to a role that pits him against the likes of Sylvester Stallone and Jet Li. Dwayne Johnson has largely played heroes for much of his career, with anti-heroes like Black Adam and outright villains like Agent 23 in Get Smart a rarity for the actor in recent years. That would have made his transformation into a bad guy for The Expendables a unique addition to the actor's roles, and a chance to flex his acting muscles.

In Hindsight, The Expendables Could Have Easily Used The Rock

Dwayne Johnson Could Have Helped Redeem Expend4bles

By the very nature of the franchise's ever-escalating sense of scale, The Expendables needed to keep finding bigger and bigger threats to confront. Dwayne Johnson would have been the perfect figure to face off with, especially if he got to use all his trademark swagger and stunt skills to become a force of nature that requires the entire Expendables team to bring down. However, The Expendables series instead stalled out for years following the disappointing reception to Expendables 3, which grossed less than the previous two films in the series. Almost ten years later, Expend4bles bombed at the box office.

Expend4bles suffered from an overall weak script and forgettable action, with only Jason Statham really earning positive reviews for his work in the film. Shifting focus over to Dwayne Johnson might have been the way to fix that, as his presence could have galvanized the producers of the film and set up a more exciting story. If nothing else, Johnson's status as one of the world's biggest action stars would have likely been a key way to reinvigorate the series and infuse the series with a more modern approach to action sequences. Johnson had helped revitalize franchises before, after all.

The Rock And Jason Statham Would Eventually Be Part Of The Same Franchise

Dwayne Johnson Can Work Really Well As A Direct Foil To Other Action Stars

Even if Johnson never got the chance to star in the Expendables franchise as a villain, he did get a taste of that potential with another major action blockbuster series. Dwayne Johnson famously helped revitalize The Fast & The Furious films when he joined the cast as Luke Hobbs. The heroic antagonist of Fast Five, Hobbs was a breath of fresh air who gave Dom Toretto a compelling foil. Hobbs later became an unexpected ally to the group, especially when he faced off with Expendables star Jason Statham after he joined the series as the ruthless criminal operator Deckard Shaw.

Statham and Johnson had clear chemistry, leading them to be partnered up for a spin-off film, Hobbs and Shaw. All of this goes to show the kind of excitement that Johnson is capable of bringing to an action franchise, especially when he gets the chance to bounce off of other established stars. Johnson might have been the key to saving the Expendables series from itself, giving the heroes a big name threat to face down and try to overcome. While it may never happen, the idea of Johnson joining The Expendables as a villain remains an interesting (if unrealized) idea.

Source: Dwayne Johnson via Reddit