His villain met a pretty definitive end in the second film, but here’s how Jean-Claude Van Damme thinks he should return in The Expendables 4. When The Expendables was first announced, it was sold as a team-up between Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li and Jason Statham, but Stallone – who also directed – soon pulled in more action icons like Dolph Lundgren, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, making it a must-see. While the movie didn’t receive great reviews, it was a sizable hit and a franchise was born.

The Expendables 2 followed in 2012 – which added roles for Chuck Norris and Scott Adkins’ villain – while The Expendables 3 arrived in 2014. The latter entry tried to appeal to a broader audience and dropped the rating to PG-13. This experiment largely backfired in terms of reviews and box-office, with even Stallone admitting it didn’t work. A fourth movie has been in and out of development for years, but while it always threatens to happen, it has yet to receive a greenlight.

SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY

Easily the best villain of the series was The Expendables 2’s Jean Vilain, played by Jean-Claude Van Damme. The role permitted Van Damme to chew the scenery with glee, and he’s – to date – the only bad guy to actually kill one of the titular mercenaries. His murder of Liam Hemsworth’s Billy scores Vilain the wrath of Sylvester Stallone’s Expendables leader Barney, and the two engage in a vicious battle in the finale. Barney emerges victorious and even cuts off Vilain’s head to seal the deal. That would seem to rule Van Damme out of The Expendables 4, but the actor has a logical idea for his return.

In 2014, Jean-Claude Van Damme responded to a question from the new defunct fansite Expendables Premiere (via Empire) about the possibility of returning as Jean’s twin Claude Vilain in a sequel. Van Damme replied “He may even create a stronger character than Claude Vilain, the twin brother of Jean Vilain. Some fans ask me if the next Vilain – if there is a next – is going to be a good guy or a bad guy,” before going on to state he’d leave his potential allegiance up for Stallone to decide.

See also  Mortal Kombat 2021: Why Sub-Zero Killed Scorpion

While bringing in a dead character’s twin is the oldest trick in the book when it comes to sequels, for Jean-Claude Van Damme, it’s perfect. He’s famous for playing twins or duplicates in the likes of Double Impact, Maximum Risk or Replicant, so having Claude Vilain appear in The Expendables 4 could totally work. It would also be nice to see Van Damme work with the title team this time around, instead of playing the villain role again. That said, time will tell if The Expendables 4 even happens – let alone if Van Damme will be the main Vilain again.

Avatar 2 & James Cameron’s Genius Hyped By Michelle Yeoh

About The Author


Padraig Cotter
(3485 Articles Published)

It’s pronounced Paw-rick, not Pad-raig. Now that’s out of the way, a brief introduction. Padraig has been writing about film online since 2012, when a friend asked if he’d like to contribute the occasional review or feature to their site.

A part-time hobby soon blossomed into a career when he discovered he really loved writing about movies, TV and video games – he even (arguably) had a little bit of talent for it. He has written words for Den of Geek, Collider, The Irish Times and Screen Rant over the years, and can discuss anything from the MCU – where Hawkeye is clearly the best character – to the most obscure cult b-movie gem, and his hot takes often require heat resistant gloves to handle.

He’s super modern too, so his favorite movies include Jaws, Die Hard, The Thing, Ghostbusters and Batman. He can be found as i_Padds on Twitter making bad puns.

See also  Star Wars: Padmé’s Ridiculous Death Has Real Basis In Science

More From Padraig Cotter