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Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris on Board for 'The Expendables 2'

By Garrett Godwin

Last year, Sylvester Stallone said that he wanted The Expendables 2 to be "a love letter to martial arts", and now that letter has been answered: telling Entertainment Weekly (EW) that not only Jean-Claude Van Damme will be in it, but also Chuck Norris.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Van Damme earned the nickname "The Muscles from Brussels" in the original Bloodsport, Kickboxer, and Cyborg, along with Universal Soldier, Hard Target, Nowhere to Run, and Timecop.

Chuck Norris on a morale-boosting tour in Iraq Photo: Cpl. Lynn Murillo

Chuck Norris, who fought Bruce Lee in Return of the Dragon, cemented his reputation as the John Wayne of martial arts with Breaker! Breaker!, Good Guys Wear Black, all three Missing in Action films, Code of Silence, and Lone Wolf McQuade, which became the inspiration for Walker, Texas Ranger. The series was a Saturday favorite on CBS for eight years from 1993 to 2001, and continues to maintain its popularity through DVDs and reruns in syndication.

Norris' role is rumored to be an cameo like Bruce Willis' Mr. Church and Arnold Schwarzenegger's Trent Mauser, who will play more "substantial" roles in the sequel, as will JCVD - including "a big showdown" with the man known as Rocky Balboa and John Rambo, whose Barney Ross character faced off against "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's Dan Paine in the original.

The Expendables 2 is currently set to be out in theaters on August 17, 2012.

Garrett Godwin writes for NewsBlaze from Michigan. Contact him by writing to NewsBlaze.