Expendables 4: Does Sylvester Stallone’s Barney Die?

Expend4bles is now playing in theaters, and the latest installment to the action franchise sees the return of  Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, and Randy Couture along with some franchise newcomers. When the movie was in production, Stallone announced he had wrapped filming many months before the rest of the cast. In the video, he called the wrap “bittersweet,” and said he was “ready to pass the baton on to Jason.” Ever since Stallone wrapped, fans of the franchise have been speculating whether or not Stallone’s Barney Ross would survive. Now, the movie is here, and we finally know Barney’s fate. Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

Fairly early in the film, the Expendables go on their latest mission, but things go awry while Barney is flying the team’s signature plane. Lee Christmas (Jason Statham) goes off mission in order to try and help Barney, but the plane is still shot down, and by the time the team reaches Barney, he is burnt to a crisp. At this point, audiences will know the filmmakers either made an incredibly bold choice for Barney’s death or just set up a huge fake-out. So, which is it?.. 

Christmas is kicked off the team for going against orders, and some of his fellow Expendables blame him for Barney’s death. They ultimately end up leaving him behind for the next portion of the mission, which is now being led by Christmas’ girlfriend, Gina (Megan Fox). Christmas gives Gina one of his knives for good luck but puts a tracker in it so he can follow the team and avenge Barney’s death. Of course, lots of Expendables hijinks ensue for the next hour or so until Christmas reunites with the team after they’ve been captured on a ship. Christmas finally comes face to face with the film’s villain, who is played by The Raid Redemption‘s Iko Uwais. Naturally, Christmas wins the big showdown, and the Expendables go to escape, but Christmas stays behind to complete their mission. Just when it looks like Christmas is about to die, Barney shows up and saves the day. 

Turns out, Barney faked his own death so an important document could be declassified, which would help lead them to the film’s true villain, who was hiding in plain sight. Another spoiler alert… it’s Andy Garcia. While it’s definitely a silly choice to make Stallone the surprise twist of his own franchise, the fact that he played the long game with his social media posts makes it pretty fun, especially since this installment isn’t riddled with cameos like the films that came before. 

Expend4bles Stunt Coordinator Discusses Cast:

ComicBook.com had the chance to ask Stunt Coordinator Alan Ng questions about Expend4bles. Ng spoke about working with the film’s stacked cast and talked about bringing a Hong Kong influence into the franchise. We asked Ng if he went back and watched the first three Expendables films to prepare for the gig, and it turns out he actually went the extra mile. 

“Yeah, we watched all the previous Expendables and a lot of the films starring the other actors, so that we could see what they haven’t done before and what type of style would suit them best,” Ng shared via a translator. Considering the number of action stars featured in the Expendables franchise, that is a whole lot of research. 

When asked if there’s any moment he’s particularly proud of in Expend4bles, Ng revealed, “It would have to be Jason and Iko’s fight scene … We only had a day and a half to film Jason and Iko’s fight scene. Jason and Iko did it in the short time frame, they were incredible and did the fights themselves. They are real action stars.” He added, “We would have loved to have more fight scenes for Iko, but it’s all down to the script and character.” 

Expend4bles is now playing in theaters.