As cool as it would be to see Vernon Wells and Arnold Schwarzenegger hook up as Bennett and Matrix once again, and yes it would be extremely cool, there’s that one insanely important fact that might put the kibosh on the whole thing, and that’s age. It’d be kind of odd to see Wells and Arnold looking old and well past their prime for a prequel only to realize that they’re going to continue to look much younger and ready to rumble in the original Command. Even the de-aging software that’s been used a few times now and is mentioned by Cody Hamman of Joblo wouldn’t be quite enough since we saw what kind of a job it did with Robert De Niro in The Irishman, and if anyone thought he looked like a younger version of himself in that movie then they really haven’t seen any of De Niro’s earlier roles. De-aging isn’t exactly working at this time since like it or not it doesn’t work on the subject’s entire body, as De Niro was, in his younger years, a very fit and trim individual. In The Irishman he looked pretty much as he does now, aside from the fact that Frank Sheeran, being taller and bigger than De Niro, wasn’t in such great shape either. But for Bennet and Matrix it’s definitely a requirement that both men be in decent to outstanding shape and that they look as young as we remember them, otherwise fans are likely to go ape over the attempt to deliver them something that is obviously substandard in this case.
The best bet for a Commando prequel would be to find individuals that look close enough to Wells and Arnold and go that route, as the de-aging just doesn’t sound like a great idea until it’s been perfected, which it hasn’t yet. As far as seeing Vernon show up in another Mad Max movie, that’s a lot easier since it would be simple to stick him just about anywhere and make another character out of him. Wez is dead, there’s no doubt about that, and bringing him back would be a serious spit in the eye of any Mad Max fan that enjoyed The Road Warrior and watched it to the bitter end. But bringing him back as another character altogether would actually be preferable since he’s such a great addition to any project that he’d be a welcome face on set by many without a doubt. Placing him in action scenes might not be entirely feasible since the guy is in his 70s after all and despite still looking fairly well it’s not likely that he’s all that spry any longer. But seeing him on screen would still be great since in the most recent Mad Max movie the actor that played Immortan Joe, Hugh Keays-Burnes, also played Toecutter in the original Mad Max.
One could say that this is an attempt by the fans to hold onto one of their favorite memories of the past or to invigorate an actor or a character, or both, that were great back in the day, but unless it’s a talk about Vernon making his way into another Mad Max movie, which would be great, it’s kind of hard to get too excited about seeing him in anything else. The manner in which he played Bennett in Commando was great since it actually sounds as though one line made Arnold a bit nervous even after he’d already thought that Vernon wasn’t the guy for the job. But seeing as how he and Arnold became friendly during and after the movie it’s a credit to Vernon that he can act and does have a very menacing quality to him when he is acting. It might have been a little over the top when he showed off the character of Wez, or someone like him, in Weird Science, but it was really more affirmation that he’s every bit as good as people think since it added a bit of hilarity to the movie that was fully appreciated given that Vernon acted up the scene just as one might have expected. The guy is great, there’s no doubt about it, but asking people about him in this day and age would likely get a blank look and the question of ‘who?’ from a lot of people. It might also have something to do with the fact that Commando was great for its time and it’s still a classic, but when pitted against movies that are now using at least some realism it’s kind of laughable since it goes full-on macho and doesn’t really come back down to earth, ever. But that’s what we liked about it, right?
As of right now it sounds as though Vernon has the desire to act in another Mad Max movie but nothing has been set just yet. It’s a guarantee that if something does happen though we’ll have plenty more to say about it.
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