Mel Gibson’s Four-Part Action Series Has A Western Prequel Nobody Remembers

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Mel Gibson's Four-Part Action Series Has A Western Prequel Nobody Remembers

While the world waits to see if the long-mooted fifth entry happens, Lethal Weapon has a secret Western prequel that has been largely forgotten. While they didn’t invent the buddy cop action genre, the Lethal Weapon movies came to define it in the eyes of audiences and critics.

The series had the formula down pat, including the bickering banter between the mismatched leads and incredible action. This Richard Donner movie saga found a perfect onscreen pairing between Danny Glover and Mel Gibson, with the two performers sharing electric chemistry.

The film series closed with 1998’s Lethal Weapon 4. In the years since, a hit TV series based on the film ran for three seasons, but was so consumed by behind-the-scenes drama that it was cancelled in 2019.

Maverick Is A Stealth Prequel To The Lethal Weapon Franchise

Danny Glover looking shocked as the bank robber in Maverick.

Donner worked with leading man Gibson six times, including all four Lethal Weapons and 1997’s half-baked thriller Conspiracy Theory. The duo also collaborated on 1994’s Maverick, a lavish reboot of the classic Western TV shows. In addition to Gibson in the lead role, the remake featured Jodie Foster, James Coburn, and the lead of the original series, James Garner.

The film is a breezy good time, though it is so fluffy and insubstantial it’s been largely forgotten in the decades since. Maverick is also loaded with cameos, including an uncredited appearance by Danny Glover as a bank robber who encounters Maverick. Glover’s face is covered by a mask throughout, but Maverick’s curiosity pushes him to pull the mask down.

This results in a fourth wall-smashing moment where Gibson and Glover’s characters recognize one aother, as music from Lethal Weapon plays in the background. Both men dismiss this brief bond by uttering “Nah,” before Glover’s gang flees. What does he say as he rides off? “I’m getting too old for this s***!“

Maverick’s not-so-subtle suggestion with this scene is that Gibson’s Maverick and Glover’s bank robber are the ancestors of Lethal Weapon’s Riggs and Murtaugh. Of course, it’s ultimately a tongue-in-cheek Easter egg, but it does feel like Donner is hinting that Riggs and Murtaugh are soulmates who were always destined to meet.

It Looks Like Lethal Weapon 5 Isn’t Going To Happen

Riggs and Murtaugh with guns in Lethal Weapon.

Lethal Weapon 4 was another hit back in 1998, but Gibson swore off another return. Series creator Shane Black tried to mount a fifth entry without Donner in the late 2000s that involved Riggs and Murtaugh taking on mercenaries during a snowstorm, but this got nixed.

Donner himself planned for a fifth outing dubbed Lethal Finale that reunited Gibson and Glover, but following his passing in 2021, Gibson decided to direct the sequel himself. Still, the film has been in development for around a decade and seems no closer to happening than it did when it was first announced.

Neither of the franchise’s leads is getting any younger, while Gibson is now focusing his attentions on his Resurrection of the Christ sequels. Maybe it’s for the best that Lethal Weapon wrapped up during its heyday, but for those craving a little Glover/Gibson reunion, they can always Google their fun Maverick scene.