10 Actors Who Just Disappeared From Movies
7. Jet Li - The Expendables 2
Given that Jet Li had a significant role in the first Expendables as martial arts expert Yin Yang, it was expected that he'd similarly be sticking around for the long haul in the sequel.
Yet Li ultimately only appears during the movie's opening set-piece, where he helps rescue a hostage from Nepal and escape onto the Expendables' plane.
At this point, just 15 minutes into the movie, Li suddenly dips out of the story by parachuting out of the plane into China with the hostage, before Jason Statham's Lee Christmas absurdly quips, "Now that's real Chinese takeout."
Most viewers surely expected Li to return later in the movie to give the Expendables a helping hand against antagonist Jean Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme), but he never resurfaces.
As it turns out, due to scheduling conflicts with the Li's martial arts film Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, he was only available to shoot a brief scene.
This clash reportedly came about late in production, enough that Sylvester Stallone basically cooked Yang's exit up on the spot while shooting, hence why the departure is so abrupt.
Li did return for a small role near the end of the third film, though hasn't been announced as part of the cast for the upcoming Expendables 4.