The 'Expendables' franchise has one thing going for it: nothing else can top it when it comes to the sheer number of interesting and noteworthy actors on screen. So it's not too surprising when 'The Expendables 3' drops 16 character posters on the same day because of course 'The Expendables 3' would have 16 characters important enough to warrant their own character posters.

What's particularly weird about these posters (which originally debuted on Coming Soon, Collider, JoBlo and IGN) is that they're not heavily photoshopped action shots. They're all black and white stills taken on the set, often with the actor smiling and looking straight into the camera. It's kind of disconcerting -- Terry Crews posing like an action hero with his minigun would look goofy, but Terry Crews posing with his minigun while looking like he's posing for a family portrait is kind of creepy.

Several of the posters are dedicated to returning cast members like Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Dolph Lundgren and Jet Li. However, others offer us looks at new members of this increasingly unwieldy cast. There's Mel Gibson, looking appropriately villainous. There's Harrison Ford, forcing a smile. There's Kelsey Grammer, looking astonishingly and awesomely out of place. There's Wesley Snipes making some kind of weird face. There's Antonio Banderas, laughing but secretly wondering how it all came down to this. And then there are bunch of fresh young faces like Kellan Lutz, MMA fighter Ronda Rousey and a bunch of people you've never heard of.

Here's the official synopsis:

Barney (Stallone), Christmas (Statham) and the rest of the team comes face-to-face with Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson), who years ago co-founded The Expendables with Barney. Stonebanks subsequently became a ruthless arms trader and someone who Barney was forced to kill... or so he thought. Stonebanks, who eluded death once before, now is making it his mission to end The Expendables -- but Barney has other plans. Barney decides that he has to fight old blood with new blood, and brings in a new era of Expendables team members, recruiting individuals who are younger, faster and more tech-savvy. The latest mission becomes a clash of classic old-school style versus high-tech expertise in the Expendables' most personal battle yet.

'The Expendables 3' is directed by Patrick Hughes and opens on August 15, 2014. Click on each of the posters below to take a closer look at everyone's sinewy muscles and craggy faces.

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