If Rambo 6 ever happens, it should utilize a scrapped ending from the original First Blood. The 1982 film is based on a novel of the same name written ten years earlier and spent a decade in development hell before ever making it to the screen, with many other actors almost cast as Rambo before Sylvester Stallone.

The movie also went through a variety of different ending ideas along the way, and while the final version works well for First Blood, one alternate ending would actually be perfect for Rambo 6 instead.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that Rambo 6 will happen, especially with 2019’s Rambo: Last Blood billed as the final installment in the Green Beret’s journey, and the fact that it garnered a decidedly lukewarm reception from audiences, critics, and even the book’s author, David Morrell.

However, Stallone does have ideas for where a truly final Rambo film would take the character. Along with the possible interest Quentin Tarantino has in doing a First Blood remake with Adam Driver, there’s at least a chance that the Rambo franchise will continue in some way in the future.

Stallone’s Rambo 6 story concept already has a poetic, reflective tone to it, as it would see the character retreat to a reservation to connect with his Indigenous ancestry and try to find peace. This alone could probably offer adequate closure, but it wouldn’t be a Rambo movie without some combat, and Stallone’s battered protagonist finally falling in battle would make for an appropriately emotional and definitive ending, as well as pay homage to the franchise’s literary roots.

As for a potential Tarantino remake of the first film, it’s possible that an ending in which Rambo dies could work better today than it would have in 1982. While it’s certainly gut-wrenching and unjust, that’s a key part of the picture Morrell’s Vietnam War novel sets out to paint. Additionally, having a different ending from 1982’s First Blood would help set Tarantino’s remake apart.