Stranger Things star cast alongside Noah Centineo in Rambo prequel

Stranger Things star David Harbour has joined the cast for the upcoming Rambo prequel – which will see To All The Boys I Loved Before and The Recruit star Noah Centineo play the role made iconic by Sylvester Stallone.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Harbour is taking on the role of Major Trautman, Rambo’s commanding officer who was played by Richard Crenna in the original 1980s trilogy.

Filming for the movie – which will be titled simply John Rambo – wrapped in Thailand last month, with other cast members including Sinners actor Yao, A Thousand Blows and Warrior star Jason Tobin, and The White Lotus season 3 breakout Tayme Thapthimthong.

It is being helmed by Finnish director Jalmari Helander, whose two Sisu films had previously earned comparisons to the Rambo franchise, and is billed as an origin story for the character set during the Vietnam War.

Not too many further plot details have been reported beyond the fact that the film will follow the character during his time in the conflict, but it seems likely we can expect more of the high-octane action the franchise has always delivered.

Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani, who previously collanorated on TV show Informer and the films The Mauritanian and Black Adam, have penned the screenplay, while Stallone is attached as an executive producer.

Stallone originated the character in the 1982 film First Blood – which remains by some distance the best reviewed of the bunch – and reprised the role for further instalments in 1985, 1988, 2008 and then one last time in 2019.

Although the action star has no creative involvement in this film, he previously pitched his own take on a prequel, one that would have seen him using AI to de-age him back to a teenager and take on his legendary role once again.

"Everyone thought I was crazy," he explained during an appearance on The Playlist’s Bingeworthy podcast last year. "AI is sophisticated enough to go through Saigon to see him at 18 years old and basically use the same image. So it isn’t as big a stretch."

In the same interview, he also said that Centineo had a tough task ahead of him when it came to slotting into the role, calling it "very, very hard."

He added: "He may do a stellar job, but you’re overcoming this because I went through it with Get Carter [the 2000 remake of the iconic Michael Caine film]. Everyone loves the original, and then you’re always fighting that prejudice."

Harbour's casting comes a few months on from his last appearance as Hopper in the final season of Stranger Things, while other recent credits include MCU film Thunderbolts* and the well reviewed HBO dark comedy DTF St Louis.

Meanwhile, he's also set to reprise his roles as two iconic red suited characters later this year: Red Guardian in Avengers: Doomsday and an especially bad tempered Santa Claus in Violent Night 2.

Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.