Did Barney die in Expendables 4?

This Sunday, November 2, 2025, TF1 broadcasts at 9:10 p.m. Expendables 4. On this occasion, Tele-Leisure looks back on the dark destiny of Barney, the character played by Sylvester Stallone. Attention spoilers !

Among the must-sees of action cinema with Sylvester Stallone is the saga Expendable. This series of four films follows a team of mercenaries led by Barney Ross and recruited by the CIA for various missions. If the first two opuses enjoyed notable success, bringing in more than $274 million and $315 million respectively at the worldwide box office, the fourth installment, on the other hand, failed to appeal to the public. It was even a resounding commercial failure, only collecting $42 million internationally for a budget of $100 million! It is precisely Expendable 4 which is broadcast this Sunday, November 2, 2025, at 9:10 p.m., on TF1. On this occasion, Tele-Leisure returns to this film shunned by fans, with a focus on the destiny embodied by Sylvester Stallone himself: Barney. Warning, spoilers ahead!

What is the fate of the character played by Sylvester Stallone in Expendable 4 ?

In this fourth part, Barney Ross and his team of fighters are sent to Libya to prevent the mercenary Suarto Rahmat from seizing nuclear warheads. But the mission takes an unexpected turn when, during an explosive confrontation, Rahmat shoots Barney’s plane, which crashes. And that’s the tragedy… In the remains of the device, the team discovers a charred body wearing their leader’s ring. Is this the end of the hero’s adventuresExpendable ? Nay! Against all expectations, Barney reappears at the end of the film, saving his friend Lee Christmas (Jason Statham) from a bad situation. The hero then reveals that he faked his death to encourage Ocelot to come out of hiding. Unfortunately, it is not the great originality of this plot twist that will have succeeded in saving the film from shipwreck.

“He wasn’t involved.” : Dolph Lundgren explains why Expendable 4 didn’t work according to him

Dolph Lundgren, who plays Gunnar Jensen in Expendable 4returns to the reasons for the failure of the film during an interview given to Screen Rant and published on January 17, 2024. It explains: “Stallone wasn’t involved, as he usually is. He was just playing a character, and when he’s in charge, the quality is pretty good, it never drops below a certain level. But he wasn’t involved, so I think the problem was with the script, and the director was replaced a month before filming.”