Why The New Expendables 4 Casting News Has Fans So Divided

"The Expendables" movies have been a major success at the box office over the years (via Box Office Mojo), and with that in mind, it's not surprising that Lionsgate decided that producing a fourth edition of the series is a worthwhile endeavor. It took a surprisingly long time for them to bring the latest film in the series to market, but now, after being talked about for years since the 2014 release of "Expendables 3," the series' fourth film has been announced (via Entertainment Weekly). This time, former stuntman Scott Waugh will sit in the director's chair.

While series mainstays Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Randy Couture, and Dolph Lundgren have been announced as part of the returning cast, there will be a number of surprising new additions to the team. These include Megan Fox  of "Transformers" fame, as well as Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, and Tony Jaa, all of whom will be joining the regulars in "The Expendables 4."  

All of this should get fans of the series amped for more bloody action and big battle sequences, but they seem to have some surprisingly mixed views on the movie's impending release. What has fans of the "Expendables" franchise so divided?  

Why are "Expendables" fans feeling split about the big news? First off, Twitter reveals that a number of responders weren't excited by the inclusion of Megan Fox. "I thought she was done with big-name franchise films after Transformers and TMNT..." said @GublerSteinfeld. Since Fox and Michael Bay's notorious dust-up over Fox's treatment on the set of the "Transformers" franchise (via GQ Magazine), it seemed a surprising move that she'd willingly join another big-budget action series.

Other fans pointed out the messy history which ties the film franchise to Terry Crews' sexual assault case. "Didn't the studio tell Terry Crews to p*** off over him being sexualy[sic] assaulted?" asked @tomspence1039, referring to the fact that Crews had previously said he wouldn't be in any further "Expendables" movies while testifying before a Senate Judiciary Committee in 2018. He alleged that producer Avi Lerner called his manager and suggested Crews should drop his case against agent Adam Venit for sexual assault if he wanted to appear in this fourth installment of the franchise (according to Deadline).

The age of the cast — many of whom are 60 or older, or will be by the time the movie drops — was another sticking point for Twitter fans. "I'm sure a lot of 60 year old straight men are very excited about this," tweeted @Leo__Maximoff.  "Boomers Assemble," echoed @qamararfin.

However, for all these yawning emojis, there were fans who are overjoyed by the news. "[M]y testosterone is getting bigger," tweeted @jasvinthan20031. Echoing the sentiments of many, @Adiil_imran tweeted "Lets [sic] goooo" with a meme featuring a picture of director Martin Scorsese reading "This is cinema" attached.

 Some very cinematic explosions will be heading to audiences sometime in the future. As of this writing, "Expendables 4" has no release date.