The third entry in a Sylvester Stallone franchise completely ignored the cliffhanger twist of the previous film. Sequels used to be a dirty word in Hollywood, with major stars tending to avoid them. Obviously, that’s completely changed in the last few decades, with franchises being the backbone of Hollywood. Sylvester Stallone has many action movie franchises to his name and was one of the first actors to realize their value. He often returned to the Rocky or Rambo films, especially if he was coming off a run of box-office duds.
In 2010, Stallone created another franchise for himself with The Expendables, which gathered together some of the biggest names in action cinema. Rocky, Rambo and The Expendables might be his most recognizable properties, but the weirdest Stallone movie franchise is Escape Plan. The original 2013 film paired Stallone with Arnold Schwarzenegger, and while it bombed in the U.S., it became a surprise hit overseas. Hence, two more Escape Plan movies followed in 2018 and 2019, with Stallone returning for both.
Escape Plan 2’s Sequel Tease Was Ignored By The Extractors
Hades’ cliffhanger set up a mystery villain for part three
Both Escape Plan sequels went STV in America but had theatrical pushes in countries like China and Russia. Escape Plan 2: Hades is considered the series nadir, with Stallone himself later calling the sequel “horribly produced.” Stallone and co-star Dave Bautista might have been sold as the stars, but their parts were little more than extended cameos, with Huang Xiaoming’s Shu being the real protagonist. Escape Plan 2 ends with a sequel hook, where Stallone’s Ray Breslin swears revenge on the people who built HADES and The Tomb prison from the original.
In both cases, this group targeted Breslin and his company, and Escape Plan 2’s final scene has Ray threatening this mysterious group via computer. This was intended to set up Escape Plan 3 – but the third film doesn’t follow up on Breslin’s promise. Instead, the vengeful son of Breslin’s former partner – played by Vincent D’Onofrio in the original – kidnaps Ray’s girlfriend and lures him into a black site prison.
Sylvester Stallone Wanted To Forget About Escape Plan 2
The star was very unhappy with the second Escape Plan
Likely the main reason Escape Plan 3 forgets Hades’ sequel tease is Stallone’s dislike of the sequel. The film received terrible reviews and flopped, with Stallone then taking a more active part in the making of the third film, The Extractors: Escape Plan. He gets more screentime and action, and the sequel has a grittier feel than the stylized sci-fi trappings of the second film. Escape Plan 3 had a much lower budget than Hades too, so the more grounded style was borne out of necessity.
Stallone wanting to put distance between Escape Plan 3 and the previous film is another reason the cliffhanger was discarded for the third entry. Given the vitriol that greeted Hades, the filmmakers likely decided nobody would really care if the sequel hook wasn’t followed up. Escape Plan 3 didn’t receive great reviews either, but was still considered an improvement on Hades, and one that actually made Stallone a main character. A fourth installment is doubtful at this point, however, so Hades’ cliffhanger will forever remain unresolved.