Going into The Expendables 2 panel, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Sure, it would be awesome to see Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews and Mickey Rourke together, but what would they talk about?

Well, a lot – actually. They smashed it open with two amazing montages of Stallone and Schwarzenegger’s lengthy and bad ass careers and then they talked about the film. See, The Expendables 2 is basically and enhancing of what worked in the first movie. The humor, the references to their classic action movies and amazing real action.

Stallone also admitted that the name came from Rambo 2, when the Italian Stallion said “you’re expendable.” He joked that the alternative was The Dependables and that he ripped himself off, much to the delight of the crowd.

After that, the crew talked about their past and how they competed with one another when they were first breaking in, but that they eventually became good friends. The Expendables is basically an homage to 80′s and 90′s action films. Stuff that isn’t around anymore because new action stars are more leaner and rely more on CG, something Stallone says that he’s envious of. He also mentioned that he would have never got the movie made with just himself, because he doesn’t have the clout anymore. But when he got himself and other older action stars together, they formed a galaxy of sorts that had clout and could get the movie made.

As for why Jean Claude Van Damme is in the movie, Stallone basically said he’s from the same era and that despite his recent problems, Stallone says that once you become a star and that fades you just need to re-ignite it. He thinks The Expendables 2 will re-ignite that star.

They went on to talk about how they do more limber and body stuff now that they’re older rather than do weights like a Crews. They also gave each other a lot of compliments.

Stallone promised that the film would have a finale that would blow people’s minds because it’s never been done before.

The footage they showed off was quite action-packed. It was a scene where they were in what looked like an office building firing bad guys with machine guns. In addition to Stallone and Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and Chuck Norris were featured. Norris chocked baddies full of shotgun shells and gave a Texas Ranger-style head nod, the crowd went crazy.

Schwarzenegger tells Willis he’ll be back and Willis responds “you always say that, I’ll be back” and promptly goes to kick ass, which sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Oh, and Stallone responded to criticism that there’s little backstory – he basically said there’s no time. Rocky had no backstory, he just kind of shows up and builds from there. It was the same idea for this film. He also mentioned that they don’t have time, as the movie is focused on action.

Overall, it was an excellent panel and a treat to see Schwarzenegger and Stallone have a good time with each other and talk about their careers. Final tidbit: Schwarzenegger recited famous lines like “It’s not a tumor” and more to get the fans going.

arnold schwarzenegger, comic con, sylvester stallone, the expendables 2