In the realm of action movies, there can be only one. That’s why feuds are built in between the likes of Arnold and Stallone. And while those two have gone on to work together and squash the beef, one that has kept on for decades is the one between Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steve Seagal. That is, until now.
In a twist that will take your head off faster than a jumping front kick, Jean-Claude Van Damme recently helped Steven Seagal celebrate his 73rd birthday. Posting to Instagram, JCVD shared a video of himself with his former rival, also writing, “Thank you to Steven Seagal and his family for a fantastic dinner.”
But the biggest takeaway from the post was that JCVD also wrote, “Big announcement coming soon!” For all of us fans of ‘80s and ‘90s action flicks, this is the sort of tease we can get excited about! But what exactly is coming up for Van Damme and Seagal? A movie? (Maybe one involving Yetis?) A joint venture to promote martial arts? A much-anticipated follow-up to Songs from the Crystal Cave? Whatever it is, we’ll be sure to update you.
The history of the feud between Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steve Seagal is a storied one among action movie fans. From the onset, Seagal didn’t take Van Damme’s martial arts skills seriously, telling Arsenio Hall any achievements he had were “a matter of opinion that he was a champion anywhere. I’m not being catty or anything. I wish the guy all the best but there are an awful lot of people who say that that’s not true.” The two would later reportedly have an altercation at Planet Hollywood, which, between that and The Arsenio Hall Show, shows you where priorities were in the ‘90s… And it just kept building from there, with verbal jabs even going into the 2020s.
Combined with fragile egos and excessive machismo, neither Jean-Claude Van Damme nor Steven Seagal would ever see themselves flinching first. As such, the two almost came to literal blows, being offered $20 million apiece to fight each other, a paycheck that Seagal apparently turned down. Guess those direct-to-video releases pay more than we thought…
What do you think Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal have planned? Which of the two reigns supreme in the world of action flicks?
