He did say he’d be back, after all. Don’t claim you weren’t warned.
Nearly a decade after his last major role in “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” Arnold Schwarzenegger is about to launch a comeback that promises to return him to the top of the heap among muscled Hollywood leading men — or at least pay him enough to cover that inevitable divorce.
Arnie is leaving the California governor’s mansion behind and returning to the one other industry that rivals politics in egos and suspiciously great hair: acting.
Prepare to meet Arnold Version 65, as in his age, a lovably broken-down hero with a medically repaired heart who comes out of retirement for one more score.
But can Schwarzenegger, who’s old enough to be eligible for a discount to see his movies at the theater, reclaim his perch as the alpha action hero? And do audiences still even care?
His first test comes Friday with the release of “The Expendables 2,” the sequel to the surprise 2010 B-movie hit teaming Sylvester Stallone with other gun-toting lugs, including Dolph Lundgren, Jason Statham and Jet Li. The follow-up crowds even more names above the title, adding Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Liam Hemsworth, and featuring Bruce Willis and Arnie in expanded roles.
This go-round finds Stallone and his team of long-in-the-tooth mercenaries trying to race a villain named Vilain (yes, really, played by Van Damme) to a cache of weapons-grade HGH — er, make that plutonium.
Schwarzenegger’s screen time is limited, but his few scenes find him breezily mowing down legions of faceless enemies with large firearms, making it clear he didn’t come out of retirement to snag an Oscar. Big, dumb action movies are still his thing.
“I guess I could have started slow and eased into it,” Schwarzenegger told USA Today. “But it felt amazing to be back jumping off buildings, seeing huge explosions, getting in car chases and throwing punches.”
After “Expendables 2”, he’ll appear in “The Last Stand,” playing an aged sheriff taking on a cartel leader in a role that was originally set to star another graying hero, Liam Neeson. Also in the pipeline is “Breacher,” a “testosterone-heavy riff” on “Ten Little Indians” about DEA agents who pull a heist, as well as “The Tomb,” a prison-break movie that again teams Arnie with Stallone.
The key to success will be for Ahnuld to acknowledge his age, thereby not forcing audiences to suspend disbelief more than they usually have to during one of his flicks.
“Stallone made similar comeback attempts with ‘Rocky Balboa’ and ‘Rambo,’ ” says Eric Lichtenfeld, author of “Action Speaks Louder: Violence, Spectacle, and the American Action Movie.”
“ ‘Rocky’ succeeded, but ‘Rambo’ did not. ‘Rocky’ asked that question, can someone at that age do it? ‘Rambo’ did not. These projects are usually more successful when you can make their age part of the story. Then you’re turning your liability into a strength. Otherwise, it’s just the thing everyone is thinking about.”
Sure enough, “The Expendables 2” includes a few moments when the cast winks at the audience. In one scene, Stallone examines a dilapidated airplane, saying, “That thing belongs in a museum.”
“We all do,” Arnie retorts.
A source on the set of “The Last Stand” tells The Post that Schwarzenegger, in person, looks reasonably good for his age.
“He looks like a well-worn leather jacket — strong but weathered,” the source says.
After one rough stunt, the star reportedly muttered, “I feel old.”
One longtime Hollywood publicist agrees that selling Arnold again to the public should be easy. The underdog story of a 65-year-old getting back into the game should prove compelling to moviegoers and journalists alike. Also, nostalgia is a powerful motivator. He’s even considering making a sequel to 1988’s “Twins,” adding Eddie Murphy and calling it “Triplets.”
The only potential land mine could be the former Governator’s recent scandals.“I think he needs to stay away from any in-depth articles about his personal life obviously,” a publicist says. “He should probably stick to TV interviews and fluffy stuff talking about the return of an action hero.”
Schwarzenegger has suffered through years of bad publicity, from allegations of sexual harassment to a 2011 separation from his wife of 25 years, Maria Shriver, to his admission of fathering a secret child with his housekeeper. Perhaps in a bid to get in front of any negative publicity, Arnie is set to tell his story himself in a massive 656-page autobiography called “Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story,” due in October.
If he can reclaim his A-list status in Tinseltown, it won’t be without precedent.“Charles Bronson made ‘Death Wish V: The Face of Death’ at age 73, which makes Schwarzenegger seem comparatively sprightly,” says Jack Lechner, a former Miramax executive, now an NYU adjunct professor. “Hell, Sylvester Stallone is a year older than Schwarzenegger, and audiences still don’t want to see him as anything except an action star. Besides, that’s why God created stunt doubles.”
Clint Eastwood, too, had one of his bigger recent hits at age 78 with 2008’s “Gran Torino,” in which he played a war vet taking on an Asian gang.
“Schwarzenegger can’t perform with the same kind of physicality that he did in the 1980s, but I think fans will forgive that,” Lichtenfeld says. “And besides, that kind of filmmaking isn’t really where the genre is anyway.”
Unlike the ’80s, action films nowadays are less about how chiseled the hero is (see the “Bourne” series) and tend to focus more on story, spectacle and special effects. See “The Avengers” and “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol” for proof.
For anyone doubting Arnie’s chances at a comeback, ask yourself: Did you ever honestly think he’d wind up as governor?
reed.tucker@nypost.com