Rambo 5 Has Already Found Its Villain

Sergio Peris-Mencheta in Life Itself

At the end of 2008's Rambo, Sylvester Stallone's character finally came home after a lifetime of war. But John Rambo is a warrior and there is always another war to be fought and villains to be defeated. For the franchise's return in Rambo 5, Sylvester Stallone's vet will be facing off with a new villain and actor Sergio Peris-Mencheta has been cast to play him.

The casting, first reported by Deadline, will see the Spanish actor playing the leader of a deadly Mexican drug cartel. The plot of Rambo 5: Last Blood (incredible title) will see John Rambo cross the border into Mexico when his friend's daughter is kidnapped. Rambo then finds himself up against the deadly cartel, and its leader, Hugo Martinez, to be played by Sergio Peris-Mencheta, in what I can almost guarantee will be a bloody conflict.

Sergio Peris-Mencheta is a theater star in his native Spain, but for U.S. audiences he also has plenty of TV and movie credits, including the FX series Snowfall and the recently released Dan Fogelman movie Life Itself. This role seems like it might be right up the actor's alley too, as he plays an enforcer for a drug kingpin in Snowfall, only in Rambo 5, his character will be the one calling the shots.

Sergio Peris-Mencheta joins actress Paz Vega, who we found out earlier this week had joined the film as an ally of Stallone's Rambo, named Carmen Delgado who is reportedly the sister of the kidnapped girl. Rambo 5 is currently filming in Bulgaria so I'd imagine we should be hearing some more casting news soon for what looks to be Rambo's final battle.

Sylvester Stallone has already teased a different look for his iconic character as he retired and became something of a cowboy, working on a ranch in Arizona. But that simple life is hard to come by and even harder to keep, especially for someone like Rambo, who can't not fight when he is needed. So he is once again called to fight a battle in a way that only he can.

Directing Rambo 5: Last Blood is Adrian Grunberg, who directed the Mel Gibson film Get the Gringo and also has tons of second unit director and assistant director credits on action films like Man on Fire, Traffic and on the Netflix series Narcos, so a movie where Rambo faces off with a cartel definitely seems to be in his wheelhouse. Adrian Grunberg will direct based on a script written by Sylvester Stallone and Matt Cirulnick.

There is no firm release date yet for Rambo 5: Last Blood but we'll keep you updated when it sets one. If it is in 2019 it would join a whole host of huge and eagerly anticipated movies. Check them all out in our 2019 release schedule.

Nick Evans

Nick grew up in Maryland has degrees in Film Studies and Communications. His life goal is to walk the earth, meet people and get into adventures. He’s also still looking for The Adventures of Pete and Pete season 3 on DVD if anyone has a lead.