Michael B. Jordan Explains How The CREED Franchise is Moving Forward Without Rocky Balboa
Creed III is the first movie in the Rocky franchise that doesn’t include Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa. It’s kind of sad that we won’t see Rocky again, but after 40 years of playing the character, Stallone previously announced his retirement, saying: "It's been my ultimate privilege to have been able to create and play this meaningful character. Though it breaks my heart, sadly all things must pass… and end. I love you kind and generous people, and the most wonderful thing of all is that ROCKY will never die because he lives on in you."
Micheal B. Jordan now carries that torch in Creed III, which sees Adonis "Donnie" Creed face off with an old friend from his past, Damian, who is played by Jonathan Majors. During a recent interview with HOT 97, Jordan talked about the absence of Rocky in this movie and how the franchise is moving forward without the iconic character. He explains that this next movie is all about taking Adonis out of Apollo and Rocky's shadows to "progress the franchise forward."
"First of all, Sly and Rocky's DNA is through this entire franchise. You can't have these movies [without that]. That underdog spirit, I think, connects the underdog in all of us. I think what we love about these movies so much is that we see somebody that's going through hardships, that's able to rise from the ashes and reach the mountaintop, and we connect with that. For us, we connect with characters that can do the same, and that's what we want to do with Adonis Creed."
Jordan went on to explain that the first Creed "was a lot about Rocky and Apollo," and the second film was about Adonis “trying to come out of Apollo Creed's shadow, and being comfortable in his own skin." He made peace with his father’s death after fighting Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), the son of Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) who killed his father in the ring.
After those films, Jordan wanted Creed III "to stand on Adonis' shoulders” and he explained the story he wanted to tell with the character, saying:
"I want Adonis to stand on his own two feet. In order to do that, we had to go into the past. What were those transformative years, those childhood traumas that shaped [Adonis] today? I think the room for this story was really about Adonis Creed moving forward with his family, and having him move forward. That's kind of how we rolled out the story for this one."
It makes sense to take Creed’s story in that direction, but it’s a direction that Stallone didn’t seem very happy with. Stallone previously said of it: "That’s a regretful situation because I know what it could have been. It was taken in a direction that is quite different than I would’ve taken it. It’s a different philosophy — Irwin Winkler’s and Michael B. Jordan’s. I wish them well, but I’m much more of a sentimentalist. I like my heroes getting beat up, but I just don’t want them going into that dark space. I just feel people have enough darkness.”
Regardless of what Sly says, Creed III looks like a great movie and I’m excited about watching it this weekend! Have you seen Creed III yet? If so, what did you think?