Sylvester Stallone's mob boss Dwight "The General" Manfredi carries a big stick in Season 4 of the Paramount+ series "Tulsa King" (premiering Friday, Oct. 16).
The ornate, silver-topped cane is not a sign that Stallone, 80, requires a walking aid to play the formidable New York gangster making a killing with his Oklahoma crime empire. The "Rocky" star briefly used a cane while recovering from spinal fusion surgery and decided to work the real-life experience into "Tulsa King."
"I don't have a cane now or anything. It was required for a while," Stallone tells USA TODAY. "And I thought, 'Whoa, I got a feeling this could be a plot device, and I'm going to use it.' Since people have seen me with it, I'm going to make a reason. You'll see how it comes
into play this season."
Onscreen, ex-con Manfredi explains that an old stab wound from his prison days occasionally flares up, forcing him to need the cane. The accessory lends a touch of gangster class, along with the very real possibility of whacking someone with the weighty jagged edge. The "Tulsa King" season finale deaths are known for their gruesomeness, like Manfredi burning cruel rival Jeremiah Dunmire (Robert Patrick) alive to end Season 3.
Stallone's big year includes 'Tulsa King' S4 success
The Taylor Sheridan-produced hit has become a late-arriving jewel in the crown of executive producer Stallone's career. Five decades after "Rocky," the superstar is enjoying a banner year with his bestsellingmemoir, "The Steps," and the upcoming biopic "I Play Rocky" (in theaters Nov. 6). The film chronicles the then-unknown actor's unlikely rise to stardom, writing and starring in the Oscar-winning 1976 boxing classic (Stallone neither appears in the biopic nor was involved in its production).
Like Manfredi's criminal enterprise, "Tulsa King" keeps expanding, with Samuel L. Jackson taking the lead in the spinoff "Frisco King," premiering Dec. 18. Jackson reprises his role as New Orleans gangster Russell Lee Washington Jr., who builds his own criminal empire in suburban Frisco, Texas. Manfredi will appear in early episodes before leaving Washington to run his own operation.
"It's kind of like priming the pump, and then they're on their own," Stallone says, praising the icon Jackson. "There's the 'it' factor. There's a certain sense of aura and presence and intimidation."
In Tulsa, things won't get easier for Manfredi in Season 4. The outwardly legit businessman faces returning adversaries including Kansas City mob boss Bill Bevilaqua (Frank Grillo) and New York gangster "Quiet Ray" Renzetti (James Russo), newcomer Tulsa politician Amanda Clark ("Yellowstone" star Gretchen Mol) and a tech-driven scheme involving AI data centers and a powerful billionaire.
Even Manfredi's loyal crew has new projects and problems, including his right-hand man, former bartender and ex-con Mitch Keller (Garrett Hedlund), and Even Higher Plane marijuana dispensary owner Lawrence "Bodhi" Geigerman (Martin Starr).
Stallone claps back at critics of Scarlet Rose Stallone casting, expanded role: 'Of course it's nepotism, you idiot'
Stallone's real-life daughter,Scarlet Rose Stallone, who plays stable hand character Spencer in Season 1, takes an increasingly larger role in the family business and onscreen for Season 4.
Stallone claps back at the critics of his daughter's casting. "First they go, 'Nepotism is terrible.' I said, 'Oh please, you're not a good parent if you haven't performed a little nepotism. Then obviously you don't care about your kids, because they come first,'" Stallone says. "'Of course it's nepotism, you idiot. That's why we're parents. We want the best for our children. So obviously we let them have every advantage.'"
The proud dad has one nonnegotiable caveat: The kid still has to earn it.
"Can they maintain that level of excellence? That's out of our hands," Stallone says. "But if you can open the door, we'll see if they have the ability to go through it. People will say, 'She got that job, it's too easy.' You're right. Perhaps it could be. But to maintain that, to be in front of millions of people, you either got it or you don't."
Manfredi looks to survive Season 4, won't die even when 'Tulsa King' ends
The once-imprisoned and wrongly exiled Manfredi has his sights set on even greater things in Season 4. He's looking to head the National Council of organized crime and become the "boss of bosses" in "the Mecca of bad boys." But Stallone suggests Manfredi's ambitions could bite back.
"It might be a question of, 'Now how do I get out of this?'" Stallone says. "Be careful what you wish for."
Stallone won't say how long the "Tulsa King" ride will last, but he knows one thing: He won't kill off Manfredi. Ever. No heroic final death, whenever the end of the series comes.
"He's just going to get a skin condition and disappear," Stallone jokes. "I just don't like killing off. I just don't like it. It depresses me. I would much rather put someone in a rowboat and wonder what happened to him. I really do."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stallone talks 'Tulsa King' Season 4, hits back at critics of daughter's role
