The word is that Dolph Lundgren could be starring in Sylvester Stallone's upcoming film The Expendables alongside his old foe, and currently signed Jason Statham and Jet Li. If that doesn't serve the death knoll for the Universal Soldier sequel then I don't know what will.

This is a Quentin Tarantino-esque move by Stallone to bring a long forgotten face to the fore and could really be a huge opportunity for Lundgren, well here's hoping it is.

The more I see of this the more I really think that this is Sylvester Stallone's response to the old rumour, way back, that he and the old eighties action stars were to get together for Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.

I do think that Stallone is creating his own similarly themed story and stacking up the great talent for the fans who thought the original casting rumours for Basterds were so exciting. Even if he isn't I like to keep thinking that, it's a nice thought.

So far we know that The Expendables will see a group of mercenaries pulled together for a mission in South America that involves overthrowing a dictator.

We already heard that Jason Statham and Jet Li would be returning to their film partnership, and it seems fitting that the other casting brings back another strong action partnership, that of Stallone and Dolph Lundgren.

The news story comes from Dolph Ultimate through AITH.

Perhaps now then there's no room for anyone else in the cast list, I had been hoping for Willis and maybe even Arnie, but you know what? I think this looks just fine the way it is, anyone else would swamp the screen too much.

There's also the fact that this is one in the eye for the Universal Soldier sequel, having signed up Jean-Claude Van Dame and not bothering with Lundgren, you can see who has come out with the better deal here.