Sylvester Stallone on Not Being a Part of CREED III: Franchise Is Going in a "Dark Space" He Wouldn't Have Taken It

The third film in the Rocky franchise spinoffs, Creed III, is coming out in just a few months, and it will be the first of the movies not to include Rocky Balboa, played by the creator of the character, Sylvester Stallone. The actor confirmed two years ago that he would not be returning for the role of Rocky, who served in the first two Creed movies as a mentor and coach to Michael B. Jordan’s Adonis Creed. But it’s still a sensitive subject for the actor.

Just a few months ago, it was reported that Stallone took to social media to lament the fact that although Stallone created the character Rocky, wrote all the films, and even directed most of them, he has no rights to the still-popular movies. The ownership rights to the franchise belong in full to Irwin Winkler, producer of the films. It’s a total miscarriage of justice, and it still haunts Stallone, but it’s not exactly the whole reason the actor isn’t returning.

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Stallone talked about this new movie, and he said:

“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.”

I don’t think this new approach will make the movie bad, necessarily. It just might make fans wonder if it will still have the same feeling as the other films. But Michael B. Jordan, who is also making his directorial debut with Creed III, previously reported:

“I think that Sly let it be known that he wasn’t coming back for this one but I think, you know, his essence and his spirit… there’s always going to be a little bit of Rocky within Adonis. But this is a ‘Creed’ franchise, and we really want to build this story and this world around him moving forward. So, it’s always respect and always a shit-ton of love for what he’s built, but we really want to push and navigate Adonis forward and the family that he created.”

It’s a bummer that Sylvester Stallone isn’t a part of the franchise he built anymore, and that he doesn’t get the money and ownership he deserves. But aside from that, I think this movie is still going to be good. The trailer looked excellent, so I have a lot of hope for it.

Creed III hits theatres on March 3, 2023.