According to Variety, the 51-year-old actor – star of Netflix's Stranger Things – is set to star as Rambo's commanding officer Major Trautman in the upcoming prequel to Sylvester Stallone's 1982 movie First Blood.
Jalmari Helander is directing the movie, which will star Noah Centineo as Rambo.
Yao, Jason Tobin, Quincy Isaiah, Jefferson White and Tayme Thapthimthong will co-star.
Meanwhile, it was revealed in March that Sylvester Stallone is on board as an executive producer.
The 79-year-old action movie served as a writer on the first five Rambo films and directed 2008's Rambo, and while he won't appear on screen in the upcoming prequel, he will still be heavily involved.
In an Instagram video, Stallone said: "As you know, Rambo has been a huge part of my life, my career - but there's more to the story.
"There's the prequel, the beginning, and that's what's coming your way.
"I will serve as executive producer on this origin story. I couldn't be more excited, and the action in coming your way."
He added in the caption: "Rambo has been part of my life for a very long time. A character built on resilience, survival, and the scars of war. He's meant a lot to me and to audiences around the world for decades.
"Now we're going back to where his story begins. I'm excited to be executive producing @JohnRamboFilm, exploring the early chapter of the man before the legend."
The screenplay has been written by Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani, with filming taking place in Bangkok, Thailand.
The movie will follow Rambo's time in Vietnam with the Green Berets, and director Helander insisted the prequel will be "stripped down, raw and real".
In a statement earlier in 2026, he said: "When I was 11, I saw First Blood for the first time, and it changed my life.
"Rambo wasn't just a film to me - it stayed with me growing up and was a defining influence on why I wanted to become a filmmaker.
"As we begin production on the origin of John Rambo, we're going back to the beginning. This is Rambo stripped down, raw and real - a survival story about endurance, persistence and lost innocence."
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