The Expendables - Watch Order: Release Order
The Expendables franchise was conceived as a nostalgic homage to classic action blockbusters, bringing together legendary action stars from the 1980s and 1990s in an ensemble mercenary team. Created by Sylvester Stallone, the series follows Barney Ross and his team of elite soldiers-for-hire as they take on dangerous missions around the world.
This watch order presents the complete series in its intended progression, following the linear storyline where each film builds upon the previous one. The franchise maintains strong character continuity with recurring team members like Barney Ross (Stallone) and Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), while introducing new faces and escalating the action with each installment.
Linear Timeline: Release Order = Story Order

The Expendables
Barney Ross leads a band of highly skilled mercenaries including knife enthusiast Lee Christmas, a martial arts expert Yin Yang, heavy weapons specialist Hale Caesar, demolitionist Toll Road, and a loose-cannon sniper Gunner Jensen. When the group is commissioned by the mysterious Mr. Church to assassinate the dictator of a small South American island, Barney and Lee visit the remote locale to scout out their opposition and discover the true nature of the conflict engulfing the city.

The Expendables 2
Mr. Church reunites the Expendables for what should be an easy paycheck, but when one of their men is murdered on the job, their quest for revenge puts them deep in enemy territory and up against an unexpected threat.

The Expendables 3
Barney, Christmas and the rest of the team comes face-to-face with Conrad Stonebanks, who years ago co-founded The Expendables with Barney. Stonebanks subsequently became a ruthless arms trader and someone who Barney was forced to kill… or so he thought. Stonebanks, who eluded death once before, now is making it his mission to end The Expendables -- but Barney has other plans. Barney decides that he has to fight old blood with new blood, and brings in a new era of Expendables team members, recruiting individuals who are younger, faster and more tech-savvy. The latest mission becomes a clash of classic old-school style versus high-tech expertise in the Expendables’ most personal battle yet.

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Armed with every weapon they can get their hands on and the skills to use them, The Expendables are the world’s last line of defense and the team that gets called when all other options are off the table. But new team members with new styles and tactics are going to give “new blood” a whole new meaning.
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