Every Arnold Schwarzenegger Movie Franchise, Ranked by How Much We Want Him To Return in a Sequel

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There were exceptions, though. For one, there were once rumors of a Twins sequel, but that never happened, so it still counts as a one-off. Two, just because Hercules in a famous character doesn’t mean Hercules in New York is really a franchise installment. Three, Red Sonja more or less counts as a spin-off of Conan the Barbarian, even if he isn’t technically playing Conan there. But these following franchises? Let’s unpack how good it would be to see Schwarzenegger once more inhabiting his part in them.

6) The Terminator

image courtesy of tri-star pictures

The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day were and remain influential action films. They’re two gold standard examples of their genre.

But Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is a pale imitation of them. Even 23 years ago it seemed like the franchise was overstaying its welcome. Since then, three more Terminator movies have seen release, two of which featured Schwarzenegger, and they’ve essentially dug the IPs plot and buried it. Even if Terminator: Dark Fate was the one that finally recaptured some of the first two movies’ magic, it still didn’t fully seem like it needed to exist. That movie should remain Schwarzenegger’s final outing as the T-800, even if they do continue this franchise.

5) The Expendables

image courtesy of lionsgate

Schwarzenegger had a cameo in the first The Expendables while he was in office as Governor of California. It did its job in exciting the audience with the potential of him getting in on the action the next time around.

Then, in The Expendables 2‘s excellent third act, his Trent “Trench” Mauser did, in fact, get in on the action, and it was glorious. He returned for The Expendables 3, which was as bland an actioner as can be, but it was still better than the rancid Expend4bles which, thankfully for him, he sat out. If they make another one (unlikely to the max considering how the fourth film did) he should continue to sit it out.

4) Kindergarten Cop

image courtesy of universal pictures

The original Kindergarten Cop is a wonderful choice on movie night if you have some young burgeoning action fans in the house. It’s a very pleasant merger of humor that appeals to kids and adults as well as bookending action sequences.

And, while it’s been forgotten, there was a 2016 sequel starring Dolph Lundgren playing a different character, so it counts as a franchise installment. Even still, there’s zero reason to make a legacy sequel to this one.

3) DC

Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Let’s face it, even if it is fun to watch now that 25 years and better subsequent movies have lessened the disappointment factor a bit, Batman & Robin is still a bad movie. It’s only been followed up once, and that was via George Clooney’s cameo in The Flash, and we all saw how that movie turned out.

James Gunn’s DCU likely isn’t going to reach into the past as much and, frankly, we’re fine with that and, more specifically, never seeing Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze again. We’ll always have the Oscars joke where he and Danny DeVito got an intense stare from Michael Keaton.

2) Conan the Barbarian

image courtesy of universal pictures

We’ve finally arrived at “I could see it” territory. As long as a Conan the Barbarian legacy sequel served as a passing of the torch film it could work.

That said, it would only work if it was the mixture of wackiness and R-rated action that made up the first film, not the watered-down silliness that was Conan the Destroyer. To that point, Destroyer was an unfortunate place for him to leave the franchise (as was Red Sonja, if you count that), so a Conan legacy sequel—a potential project gaining some steam—could be a nice way to pay respects and more or less fix his first big film franchise.

1) Predator

image courtesy of 20th century studios

The Predator franchise has gone in some very interesting directions under the guidance of Dan Trachtenberg, and we’re crossing our fingers so hard they hurt that he’ll continue to steer the ship. That includes a sequel to Predator: Killer of Killers, which is where it would be logical to once more incorporate Schwarzenegger’s “Dutch” Schaefer.

Since he’s been kept in frozen captivity for decades, it would make more sense for Schwarzenegger to voice a younger version of himself. If they make the follow-up to Killer of Killers live-action he could still come back and be de-aged by CGI, but that’s so hit or miss. Either way, if there’s a franchise that could really use a Schwarzenegger return, it’s Predator, bar none.

Which franchise would you most like to see Schwarzenegger return to? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!