Review Of EX4 Characters: Who's IN, Who's OUT?

Core Team	Status	Comment
	IN	Sly is back and confirmed his return, but this time as a supporting character. His role will be an emotional one for fans and despite not having many scenes compared to previous installments, his presence will be felt throughout the film
	IN	Statham was confirmed by the studio and is back as the lead role. The movie will be centered around his character. It’s believed that he will lead a reformed EX squad with new characters joining the team
	IN	Lundgren was confirmed by both the studio and Couture. It’s not clear how much involvement he’ll have in the movie
	IN	Couture was confirmed by both the studio and himself. Like Lundgren, his level of involvement or screen time has not been revealed
	IN?	Snipes was confirmed by Couture but oddly enough he was missing in the official press release by Lionsgate. He was a sure bet when EX4 was originally set to be a direct sequel but things might have changed after the spin-off project became the main direction
	IN?	Same as Snipes, Banderas was confirmed by Couture but missing in the official press release. He was even billed in several posters that were released in Cannes and by the movie’s Spanish distributor but no news of him since
	OUT	Crews was not invited to the next EX movie. He confirmed it himself on his twitter account. His absence is due to his fallout with Avi Lerner, the main producer of the franchise after Crews sued one of the movie’s stakeholders for sexual harassment
	OUT?	Li’s presence in the EX movies kept getting smaller mainly due his health issues over the past few years. There hasn’t been any word on him, not even by Couture. Any chance of his involvement in EX4 is very slim
Returning Characters	Status	Comment
	IN?	Arnold was interested in returning in the 4th installment if his role was written well. He was attached to the movie for the longest, through confirmation by Avi Lerner and other sources. But when the movie was finally announced, he was missing from the official press release, and even Sly ruled him out. At this point his presence in EX4 looks more and more unlikely
	OUT	Chances to see Willis in the EX franchise are extremely slim not to say none. After his fallout with Sly over EX3 where he asked for more money, his fate was pretty much sealed. Although Sly and him made up after, Couture affirmed in an interview that Bruce’s return was not in the cards and that ship had sailed
	OUT	Ford made an appearance in EX3 replacing Willis as the Expendables CIA contact. He openly admitted that he had done it for the money, plus he’s currently busy with his Indiana Jones project. His return is extremely unlikely
	OUT	Rourke was attached to EX2 but bowed out, then was not even considered for the 3rd movie. He was mostly Sly’s buddy and did the first film as a favour to Sly. Since Sly is not in charge anymore, Rourke will not be asked to return
	OUT	Throwing in JCVD just for fun. His character was killed in the 2nd movie but fans have kept demanding his return. JCVD himself has made a few timid requests to return suggesting that he could play Vilain’s twin brother. But we all know that he will not be asked to return. His potential involvement in any of the EX movies is probably pure fan fantasy at this point
New Characters	Status	Comment
	IN	Megan Fox joins the cast as potentially a female Expendable. She’s believed to play Gina, Christmas’ love interest and a tough-as-nails member of the Expendables, who’s lethal in her own right
	IN	Tony Jaa, an established action star in south east Asia is joining the cast. He’s known to play villain roles in the FF & XXX movies. He could either be one of the new Expendables or playing Suharato Rahmat a weapons smuggler who has a military past. Other potential role is Bok, one of Rahmat’s deadly henchmen. The movie is said to have a South East Asian vibe, as there are many characters who are from that region
	IN	50 Cent was the surprise of the new cast. He has a long history with Sly and the producers of the EX franchise so his involvement should not be seen as a shock. Now whether he’ll be suiting up as an action hero or playing a supporting role in the office suit is the big question
	IN?	Russell was solicited to play in the franchise on a few occasions and kept declining the invitation. In the first version of EX4 that was more geared towards a direct sequel a role was penciled in for him. Now whether producers have kept his role alive in the new version of the movie and whether they can get him is the million-dollar question. That being said, he might now be interested since Statham is taking the lead, those 2 have a friendly history from the FF franchise!
Will be Missed	Status	Comment
	OUT	Chan is probably the action star that will be missed the most in the EX franchise. Despite a few attempts by Sly, Chan kept declining roles in the movies. His argument was that he didn’t want to show up and disappear but rather was looking for a buddy movie with Sly which was not possible in an EX movie setting. Too bad the franchise didn’t get complete with his presence
	OUT	Many fans say an EX franchise without Seagal will not be complete. One of the action icons of the 80/90’s, his place in the franchise was an obvious move but his foe with Ai Lerner never allowed his participation despite many attempts by Sly to get him. The closest was EX3 but it didn’t go through. Seagal even showed his desire to be in EX4 very openly early on when the project was first announced but nothing came out of that either. With the new direction taken by the franchise, we’ll never see this once great action star in the franchise