Sylvester Stallone revealed that in November 2022 he was supposed to reprise the role of John Rambo in a potential sequel to Rambo: Last Blood (2019), which was getting close to happening and would've been a fully modern-day story where Rambo passes the torch.
Director Jalmari Helander revealed that he received a message from Sylvester Stallone after the film was announced. Stallone wanted to give some advice on the character of John Rambo, emphasizing vulnerability. Helander said that he understood this right away.
Sylvester Stallone's original concept for the film involved using artificial intelligence to de-age him to appear as a young Rambo.
Director Jalmari Helander revealed that "It won't be as dark as the last two Rambos", "It's going to be a little more adventurous, and I hope to inspire a new generation of 10-year-olds to go into the forest to play Rambo" and "Of course, it's different, because we're gonna start in a place where everything is basically pretty okay for Rambo. He's happy and younger and all that, because we are telling the origin story. What would happen to him? Why did he become that kind of dude that we've all seen in First Blood? So it's different".
