Dwayne Johnson ing The Expendables 4 was a huge box-office bomb that received terrible reviews, it's looking like he'll never get to his fellow action icons either.

Way back in 2014 when he was promoting Hercules, a fan asked Johnson during an AMA if he'd like to be part of The Expendables, and he responded with “I don’t want to be on their team... I want to hunt every single one of them down.” Fighting words to be sure, and after the intense disappointment of the third and fourth entries, a sequel where a hulking Dwayne Johnson chases after the titular team sounds like a great time. It would also be a rare villainous role for Johnson, outside of occasional efforts like Doom.

The Rock’s Ideal Role In The Expendables Would’ve Suited The Franchise’s Stunt Villain Casting

Johnson would be on the same boat as Van Damme and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin

Eric Roberts was the enjoyably smarmy main villain of the original Expendables - but he didn't exactly feel like a major threat to stars like Stallone, Jason Statham, or Jet Li either. The series gave itself a serious villain upgrade with Jean-Claude Van Damme in the second movie, which was a delightful piece of stunt casting. Van Damme crafted a memorably quirky antagonist while feeling like a genuine physical threat. From there, The Expendables has leaned towards stunt casting for the bad guys, including Mel Gibson in part three and Iko Uwais in part four.

Future action legend Scott Adkins played Van Damme's henchman Hector in The Expendables 2.

With the above in mind, Dwayne Johnson would be a fantastic choice for the franchise's next big villain. Not only would his involvement reinvigorate a flagging series, but making him the bad guy would add a whole new dynamic. He's got both the charisma and the physicality for it, plus it would see him return to the type of R-rated, old-fashioned action movies he has largely avoided since 2010's Faster.

The Rock As A Villain In The Expendables Might Have Been Too Similar To Fast Five’s Hobbs

Johnson has yet to beat his Fast & Furious introduction

One knock that has (fairly) been made about Dwayne Johnson's action movie run is that he doesn't have his own version of a Rambo or Predator-style movie. In other words, he's lacking the crown jewels of other genre icons. Fast Five is still one of his best action movies, with his performance as Hobbs transforming his career instantly. Fun as it would be to see him as an Expendables villain chasing after the team, that would risk being a repeat of Hobbs once again.

In the extraordinarily theoretical case that The Expendables 5 ever happened and Johnson signed on, his antagonist would need to be distinct from Hobbs. On the same token, he can't be a bad guy with a heart of gold either; like Van Damme or Gibson's characters, Johnson would need to commit to his character's nastiness. Given the response to the fourth film, it's hard to see another sequel even happening - but casting a name like Johnson would give the whole saga a much-needed jolt.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes, The Numbers, AMA