Expendables 4 Posters Reveal A Perfect Tagline, No Notes

Big-name action sequel "The Expendables 4" has revealed its first poster, and it's not one that could easily fit on your wall at home. The Sylvester Stallone-led franchise is set to release its newest chapter sometime this year, and ScreenRant snapped a first look at a massive six-panel poster highlighting all eleven of the film's stars. The tagline? "They'll die when they're dead."

It's an apt summation of a franchise I didn't know was still going, and a great tongue-in-cheek reference to the way action series tend to revive their muscle-bound heroes again and again against all logic. The poster sports a genuinely cool blue-and-orange font, with the words appearing to be warmed by the glow of an explosion going off behind our heroes' silhouettes. Along with Stallone, it names each of the film's stars, including action go-tos Jason Statham and Dolph Lundgren, martial artists Tony Jaa and Iko Uwais, rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, and UFC fighter Randy Couture.

The cast is rounded out by Megan Fox, Levy Tran, Jacob Scipio, and Andy Garcia. It's like the "Ocean's Eleven" of ass-kicking, with Garcia as the common denominator. Jaa, Uwais, Fox, Garcia, and Jackson are all new to the franchise, which started in 2010 as an ode to classic action blockbusters. The poster also specifically notes Stallone at the very end, indicating his character, Barney Ross, may appear only in a minor role or in cameo.

"The Expendables 4" also marks the first film in the franchise in nearly a decade, with the third released back in 2014. The third Expendables film was a lesser box office hit than its predecessors, and Stallone himself reasoned that it may have been the film's PG-13 rating that kept audiences from embracing it. In 2014, he called the rating "a horrible miscalculation on everyone's part in trying to reach a wider audience," and vowed any future film would keep the R rating. So when the people who will die when they're dead actually do die, it sounds like we'll see it happen in gory detail.

Ideas for "The Expendables 4" seem to have been percolating in Stallone's mind as early as 2014, but the Lionsgate project wasn't announced until August 2021. Upon the announcement, the company's President of Acquisitions and Co-Productions, Jason Constantine, promised "a no-holds-barred action film" that will be "the biggest, most badass adventure yet."

The six-panel poster comes via CinemaCon in Las Vegas, where studios will be sharing inside looks at their latest and greatest films from April 25 to April 28, 2022. The /Film team will also be on the ground at CinemaCon to deliver news and scoops as they arrive. "The Expendables 4" is scheduled for a 2022 release.