This week, hip-hop mogul 50 Cent will be extending on his decades-spanning takeover of Hollywood by co-starring as one of the action leads in Expendables 4, also being cleverly marketed as Expend4bles.
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Although his acting chops span far and wide, from his well-known television empire as creator of the Power series to a handful of starring film roles in standalone projects, this will mark Mr. Jackson’s first foray into becoming a certified movie franchise star.
Good luck at the box office this weekend, Fif!
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The Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ emcee’s upcoming lead role in Expend4bles shows much potential, and reminds us of the many melanated movie stars who paved the way for Black people to excel in Hollywood. Pioneers like Richard Roundtree and Nichelle Nichols used action, crime-solving and a side of sci-fi to show us what could be possible when our Black star power was finally given a chance to shine in the forefront. In the years that followed, we saw Will Smith getting jiggy with aliens, Laurence Fishburne introducing us to “neo-futurism” and Wesley Snipes having a bloody-good run as a vampire slayer that would give Buffy a run for her money.
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Women, while few and far between, also had their chance to shine as well. Halley Berry gave us a whirlwind of live-action as one of Marvel’s most iconic comic book heroes, while Regina Hall jumpstarted her now-iconic run as an A-list comedic actress with an R-rated spoof of slasher films that became a cult classic in its own right. We look back on these performances and a handful of others with a sense of pride and, hopefully, examples of more to come in the future of Black Hollywood. Fingers crossed!
Take a look at 15 of our favorite Black actors and actresses to become movie franchise stars throughout the history of Hollywood. Let us know if you spot your fave:
Films in franchise: Shaft (1971) Shaft’s Big Score! (1972) Shaft in Africa (1973) Shaft (2000) Shaft (2019)
2. Nichelle Nichols as Nyota Uhura
THE QUEEN
Films in franchise: Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
3. Will Smith as Agent J
THE FLYEST IN A SUIT & TIE
Films in franchise: Men In Black (1997) Men In Black II (2002) Men In Black 3 (2012)
4. Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus
THE NEW AGE KING OF SCI-FI
Films in franchise: The Matrix (1999) The Matrix: Reloaded (2003) The Matrix: Revolutions (2003)
5. Halle Berry as Storm
THE HIGH-FLYING HEROINE
Films in franchise: X-Men (2000) X2: X-Men United (2003) X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
6. Wesley Snipes as Blade
THE DESTINED DAYWALKER
Films in franchise: Blade (1998) Blade II (2002) Blade: Trinity (2004)
7. Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
THE MAIN CONNECT
Films in franchise: Iron Man (2008) Iron Man 2 (2010) Thor (2011) Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) The Avengers (2012) Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) Avengers: Infinity War (2018) Captain Marvel (2019) Avengers: Endgame (2019) Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) The Marvels (2023)
8. Regina Hall as Brenda Meeks
THE QUEEN OF COMEDY
Films in franchise: Scary Movie (2000) Scary Movie 2 (2001) Scary Movie 3 (2003) Scary Movie 4 (2006)
9. Dwayne Johnson as Luke Hobbs
THE ROCK
Films in franchise: Fast Five (2011) Fast & Furious 6 (2013) Furious 7 (2015) The Fate of the Furious (2017) Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019) Fast X (2023)
10. Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Creed
THE CHAMP
Films in franchise: Creed (2015) Creed II (2018) Creed III (2023)
11. Lance Reddick as Charon
THE LOWKEY LEGEND
Films in franchise: John Wick (2014) John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
12. John Boyega as Finn
THE STAR LORD
Films in franchise: Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
13. Chadwick Boseman as King T'Challa / Black Panther
THE ETERNAL KING
Films in franchise: Captain America: Civil War (2016) Black Panther (2018) Avengers: Infinity War (2018) Avengers: Endgame (2019)
14. Shameik Moore as Miles Morales / Spider Man
THE MULTIVERSE MASTER
Films in franchise: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (2024)
15. Letitia Wright as Princess Shuri / Black Panther
THE NEXT ONE UP
Films in franchise: Black Panther (2018) Avengers: Infinity War (2018) Avengers: Endgame (2019) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2023)
