10 Ridiculously Long Periods Between Movie Character Appearances

6. Sylvester Stallone As Rocky Balboa (26 Years)

Ben Stiller Hubie Gilmore
MGM

Sly Stallone infamously bet on himself when he sold his script for Rocky. Though he had the foresight to know he was onto something by portraying the underdog boxer, it's doubtful he imagined the character would be involved in five sequels plus two spin-offs over the next five decades.

After 1990's Rocky V was a bit of a disappointment, however, the character was thought to have been put out to pasture while Stallone worked on other projects. Yet 26 years later, Rocky Balboa incredibly hit theaters, with Stallone returning as the ageing fighter. As if that wasn't enough, nine years later Rocky would also return in the Michael B. Jordan spin-off Creed.

Bonus points for Stallone: With two massively iconic characters on his resume, he also brought Rambo out of retirement in 2008...he'd last played him in 1988's Rambo III.

Contributor
Contributor

A humble vaudevillian veteran cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate