Clearly William Strannix and Casey Ryback knew each other. I wonder why Strannix didn't tell Krill and the rest of his hired guns earlier that this guy is real serious. Someone says Pvt Nash is guarding Ryback, to which Strannix says "Ryback?" Like he def knew him.
shareThere could be a plot hole in the film that for time constaints or pacing reasons was cut out. Possibilities are:
1. They both underwent the same training but one made it as a CIA agent (Strannix) and the other one became a SEAL (Ryback)
OR
2. They both cooperated in a previous CIA mission at one point
If they met 'on the job' there's a chance they didn't know each other's names, just recognised faces. TLJ may never have heard the name Ryback before. SpecFor guys don't usually go around with name tags on like Ryan Reynolds in Blade Trinity lol.
Nobody ever told me that before.
Yea i thought that was weird too. In the final fight scene where they recognize each other. and I guess their commanding officer was crazy. Strange
share... there's a chance they didn't know each other's names, just recognised faces.I didn't think it was a big deal. Strannix just couldn't put a name to the face until the end.🐭 share
i suspect either it was re wriiten mid movie (as was seagals other movie, "executive decision" when he started causing problems on set) or it was a scene or backstory that was edited out for some reason, perhaps time constraints. to me there were too many detailed references to it to be just a casual reference, which is why it think it was one of those 2.
shareJust rewatched it for like the twentieth time and my impression is that the CIA slimeball in a suit that joined the meeting at the US command center was the source of the bad intel that got Ryback's team wiped out in Panama. Something tells me in an earlier draft of the script, TLJ's character was going to be the CIA asset that Ryback's team worked with during the failed operation, and either have it be revealed he screwed Ryback on purpose to make him super extra villainous OR to have him try and relate his getting betrayed by the CIA himself with Ryback's team getting the shaft during the final confrontation.
In the end, I'm glad the reference to a past encounter is vague. It comes off better as a plausible, cool throw away with interesting implications, rather than some hammy over-explained "And it was I who killed your father and kicked your dog, too" moment. TLJ was already the biggest *beep* on the planet.