In 1982, audiences were introduced to John Rambo, an ex-Green Beret who served in Vietnam and had been given the Congressional Medal of Honor. Things were going well until the sheriff of Hope, Washington, insulted Rambo to the point where he got violent and was arrested. Escaping from the sheriff, Rambo used his survival skills to stop the sheriffs. The character has been created by David Morrell, with the source being his novel First Blood.

The role would mark the second iconic character for Sylvester Stallone after playing the “Italian Stallion” from Philly, Rocky Balboa. Stallone would go on to play Rambo three more times in 1985, 1988, and 2008.

Well, Stallone has announced this week that he is retiring in terms of playing John J. Rambo. An attempt at a fifth film, Rambo: Last Blood, was later developed into a possible television series, Rambo: New Blood, which would see Rambo team up with his son. Stallone was to have been executive producer, but when he recently left the series, he wished show runner Jeb Stuart the best.

As to why Stallone has decided to retire in terms of playing Rambo, he’s made it clear: “The heart says ‘Yes’, but the body says to ‘stay home’”.

While we may not see Stallone play Rambo again, one thing looks to be certain. It may look like we will see Stallone return once again to play Rocky Balboa in a follow-up to Creed, in which Balboa trains Adonis Johnson, the son of Rocky’s rival turned friend, the late Apollo Creed. MGM plans to do a Creed II, but it will have to wait as they want Ryan Coogler once again at the helm. However, Coogler is currently in talks to direct the Marvel superhero Black Panther with Chadwick Boseman and if that goes through, Coogler will work on that first, then possibly Creed II if all goes well.

To say farewell to Stallone’s take on Rambo, we present this tribute video from Youtube uploader lazharo rasto.