Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is one of the biggest action stars in the world, and at one point was rumored to be joining Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables franchise. As a WWE wrestler-turned-movie star, Johnson has been elevating film franchises since his first movie role in The Mummy Returns back in 2001, and later joined major series like Fast & Furious and Jumanji. As a global star and a big box office draw, it would have made sense for Johnson to join the likes of Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger in Stallone’s ensemble action series.

The Expendables franchise pays tribute to the history of blockbuster action movies by bringing together the genre’s biggest stars for thrilling, action-packed adventures featuring a team of elite mercenaries. While Johnson has the credentials to stand alongside the series stars, his potential role was merely speculative, and despite his expressing interest in being added to the cast, it never happened. As a franchise with four feature films, and The Expendables 5 looking increasingly unlikely, there’s a good chance that The Rock will never be a part of the series.

The Rock Wanted To Play A Villain In The Expendables Movie Franchise

Johnson Spoke About The Expendables In A Reddit AMA

The subject of Johnson taking on a role in a future Expendables movie first came up in 2014 when he took part in a Reddit AMA to promote his starring role in Hercules. Johnson said he would consider joining Stallone’s franchise, but he didn’t want to join the team of mercenaries and instead was interested in playing a villain. With no desire to play the hero, Johnson stated, “I want to hunt every single one of them down” and tell them, “Send your soul to heaven cause your ᴀss is mine.”

While Johnson appeared eager to take down Stallone’s Barney Ross, there were some Expendables team members whom he said he would be happy to spare. The Rock stated that Ronda Rousey’s Expendables 3 character, Luna May, would get to live as she’d “be my training partner,” and he joked that Terry Crews’s Hale Caesar would also survive because he’d need someone to “compete at peg popping with.” As a UFC and WWE fighter, Rousey has had a similar fighter-turned-actor career trajectory as Johnson, which may have influenced his desire to spare her.

The Rock Would Have Been A Huge ᴀsset To The Expendables

Johnson Has A Great Track Record When It Comes To Box Office Success

The addition of Johnson to the cast of The Expendables would have been huge for the franchise, as The Rock stands as one of today’s most bankable stars. With box office earnings of over $14 billion (via The Numbers), Johnson’s filmography is packed with hit after hit, and almost every movie he’s ever been in has done well financially. With the rare ability to draw audiences to theaters, the appeal of The Rock in a movie with Stallone and an ensemble cast of some of the biggest action stars of all time would have felt like an unmissable cinematic event.

While the first Expendables felt like a who’s who of the greatest action stars of the 1980s, as the franchise continued, the addition of increasingly less compelling stars meant the series lost a lot of that initial excitement. If a star of Johnson’s caliber had joined the ensemble as a villain, this would have been an excellent way of injecting some excitement into the series and bringing back viewers who had lost interest. As one of the most iconic action heroes of the modern age, to see The Rock face off against Rocky would be a sight to behold.

The Expendables 3 & 4 Needed More Than Just Better Villains To Be Good

One-Dimensional Characters And Poor Development Weakened Later Villains

Sadly, over time, The Expendables franchise was delivering diminishing returns, and The Expendables 3 and Expend4bles really needed far better villains to stand up against the glory days of the first two installments. Had Johnson joined the cast in a compelling villainous role for either of these sequels, there’s a chance they could have been a lot better.

The Expendables 3 was when things started going downhill for Stallone’s franchise. Having traded its previous R-rating for a PG-13 (via Collider), the series was losing its sharp edge as it cut parts of the film’s most violent scenes in order to secure a more family-friendly classification. With Mel Gibson as the ruthless arms dealer, Conrad Stonebanks, The Expendables 3 saw Ross and his crew facing off against their team’s former co-founder, who ended up going rogue. While Conrad’s character had potential, he also felt quite generic, and Gibson could have been utilized in much better ways.

The most recent film in the franchise was also its weakest, with Expend4bles bombing at the box office and earning two Golden Raspberries for Worst Supporting Actor and Worst Supporting Actress. With Andy Garcia and Iko Uwais in the villainous roles of Ocelot and Suarto Rahmat, Garcia portrayed a corrupt CIA agent hoping to profit from igniting World War III, while Uwais was one of his henchmen. Although Uwais brought the martial arts skills he’s previously shown off in cult movies like The Raid, once again, these villains just felt one-dimensional and underdeveloped.

At This Point, The Expendables Needs The Rock More Than He Needs The Expendables

Johnson Has Been Busy Since He First Expressed Interest In The Expendables

It’s now been more than 10 years since The Rock first expressed interest in joining The Expendables franchise, and Johnson has had some incredible successes in the intervening time. Whether it was portraying the fan favorite Luke Hobbs across the Fast & Furious series, lending his voice to the Disney hit Moana, or joining the DC Extended Universe as Black Adam, Johnson has had no shortage of opportunities over the past decade. While the Christmas action comedy Red One was a rare box office bomb for Johnson, he’s still one of the most consistently successful stars working today.

All of this means that The Expendables franchise needs The Rock a lot more than he needs it. If Stallone does decide to bring the team back together and gather yet another extraordinary ensemble for Expendables 5 one day, then he’s going to have to do something extraordinary to keep viewers engaged and excited. While the addition of Johnson to the cast would have been a recipe for success several years ago, the harsh truth is that if Stallone picked up the phone and asked Dwayne Johnson to join today, there’s a chance he wouldn’t answer the call.

Sources: Reddit, The Numbers, Collider