WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for director Peter Berg’s Mile 22, in theaters now.


If you're going to try to create the next big action movie franchise, Mark Wahlberg isn't a bad guy to lead it. He has some experience in this arena, having starred in two Transformers films, but he's clearly more interested in building something from the ground up.

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That's why, when the opportunity presented itself with frequent collaborator Peter Berg on Mile 22, Wahlberg jumped. And make no mistake, this action thriller perfectly sets up a sequel, and then some.

Mile 22

 

Mile 22 began development as low-budget action film in the tradition of The Raid, which is why Indonesian action star Iko Uwais was cast, as well as WWE's Ronda Rousey. However, STX Entertainment saw the opportunity to expand its vision, crafting something with the street-level action of Die Hard, the gore and blood of John Wick and the espionage of Jason Bourne. Berg altered the script, reshaping Wahlberg's James Silva from a villain into the hero. Although he did that to bolster the narrative, there's also a lot of financial incentive to a franchise with Wahlberg at the wheel. That setup is obvious from the way Mile 22 concludes.

With Silva's CIA squad trying to transport Li (played by Uwais) out of the fictional Southeast Asian country of Indocarr, they have to travel through 22 miles of pain and bloodshed. Although they succeed, the finale reveals Li is an undercover Russian operative, sent to exact revenge against Silva's unit for a botched mission in which they killed the son of a Russian military official, named Vera. In return, she activated Li to trick the Americans into trusting him, all so she could discover the location of Overwatch, a special team of intelligence gatherers. Mile 22 finishes with the Russians killing Overwatch, and with Li killing U.S. personnel on the plane secreting him out of Indocarr.

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There are a few interesting directions Berg can take with this story. Firstly, Silva is shown at the end setting out to hunt down Li, who cost him his entire covert-ops team. Silva has already informed the CIA he's going off the grid in his pursuit, setting up an intriguing cat-and-mouse game for a sequel.

Secondly, Silva's protege, Alice (The Walking Dead's Lauren Cohan) became close to Li, but she was on the plane when his true identity is revealed. It's unclear whether he killed her, too, but given the bond they forged, chances are he could have incapacitated Alice and parachuted out of the aircraft with her in tow.

REVIEW: Mile 22 is an Exhausting Splatter Fest Pretending to be a Thriller

Lastly, when Overwatch was slaughtered, the leader known as Mother (John Malkovich) wandered out into streets of Indocarr to die. However, his death was never actually confirmed, so with his fate unknown, Berg could bring Mother back to revamp Overwatch and help to locate Li. They could even continue new missions afterward, but what's clear is that, right now, the CIA has good reason to unleash the full potential of Overwatch, even if it's an entirely new team, on the Russians.

Berg has created a political conflict with the potential to ignite all-out war, the perfect ingredients for a solid action franchise. “It would be nice to have [one],” Wahlberg said while promoting Mile 22. “Finding something of my own that I’m passionate about and can rev up and deliver is of great interest. I’ve played some memorable characters during my career, but something you can continue to come back to, I haven’t done that.”

Clearly, these kinds of films are Berg's passion, too, as he has displayed a fascination with the war on terror. That's reflected in projects he made starring Wahlberg, such as Lone Survivor and Patriots Day. Whenever they get a chance to tell real-world stories, as they also did in the oil-spill drama Deepwater Horizon, they cling to it with open arms, as they believe in delivering powerful messages.

Mile 22 isn't only about making a fourth film together, it's about this exact kind of message, painting a bigger narrative on an important topic: homeland security. With Li still on the loose, the world remains in danger, and Berg knows it will take the one man who knows him best, Silva. With the final shot depicting Silva staring at Li's photo, it's all but guaranteed Berg and Wahlberg want to see this rivalry through to the end.


In theaters now, director Peter Berg’s Mile 22 stars Mark Wahlberg, John Malkovich, Lauren Cohan, Iko Uwais and Ronda Rousey.