Michael B. Jordan’s Creed 3 now makes its fans wait a few more months for its release. This upcoming sports drama film marks the ninth movie in the Rocky Franchise. The movie that was initially scheduled to release in November 2022 now got pushed ahead to March 2023.
Ryan Coogler revived the Rocky franchise by directing the first Creed movie in 2015. The movie received much acclaim for critics and audiences alike, gaining a 7.6 out of 10 IMDb rating. Coogler is a gifted director who recently directed the upcoming Marvel movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The franchise further continued in 2018’s Creed II. Steven Caplr Jr. Junior directed this Creed sequel which also received much appreciation. The upcoming installment began production in January 2022 and recently wrapped up filming.
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Creed 3 also marks Michael B. Jordan’s directorial debut. Jordan announced his plans to dive into the world of directing back in 2021. In an interview with Variety, the Black Panther actor said that directing for him was an “aspiration, but the timing had to be right.”
He also stated that the franchise and the theme that Creed III would follow are deeply personal to him.
“I look forward to sharing the next chapter of Adonis Creed’s story with the awesome responsibility of being its director and namesake,” Jordan revealed.
Unfortunately for Sylvester Stallone fans, the veteran actor would not return for this latest installment in the long-running franchise. After his role in Creed 2, Stallone announced his retirement from the franchise, calling it his “last rodeo.”
He stated, “I thought Rocky was over [with Rocky Balboa] in 2006, and I was very happy with that. And then, all of a sudden, this young man [Jordan] presented himself, and the whole story changed. It went on to a new generation, new problems, new adventures.”
Stallone went on to express his happiness with Jordan and the entire team of Creed. The Rocky actor is beyond happy to see the story continuing forward into a new generation and being available for newer, younger audiences. Sylvester Stallone passed the mantle onto Jordan and believed he would do justice to the role.
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Jordan further talked about this in an interview with IGN,
“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.” Jordan went on to explain that moving forward, they want to further build the franchise and expand on the world around Rocky, “We want to push and navigate Adonis forward and the family that he created.”
Here is everything we know about the upcoming Creed movie. From cast to release date and a storyline, we have got it all for the eager fans.
Creed 3 Cast
Creed 3 returns with its leading cast members still there. In the lead, we have Michael B. Jordan reprising his role as Adonis “Donnie” Creed. Adonis is the son of Apollo Creed, Rocky Balboa’s most cutthroat competitor. Jordan is an immensely talented actor who gained the spotlight through his role as Oscar Grant in the drama Fruitvale Station. Further, he went on to win multiple awards for his exceptional acting in the drama. However, Jordan’s most popular roles are that of Adonis Creed in this franchise and Erik KillMonger in Marvel’s Black Panther.
Tessa Thompson returns as Bianca Taylor, Adonis’s girlfriend. Thompson started her acting career through theatre, performing plays such as The Tempest and Romeo and Juliet. Although, she received mainstream recognition through her character of King Valkerie “Val” in the MCU. Marvel introduced her character in Thor: Ragnarok, which later appeared in Avengers: Endgame and Thor: Love and Thunder. Thompson also starred in Men in Black: International, further gaining popularity amongst the masses.
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Phylicia Rashad reprises her role as Mary Anne Creed, Adonis’s mother. Rashad is well-known for her immensely popular role as Chair Huxtable on NBC’s The Cosby Show. She also appeared in numerous critically acclaimed plays such as A Raisin In The Sun, Skeleton Crew, etc. Her struggles helped open up the pathway for multiple aspiring black actresses, and for this, she has been popularly dubbed “the mother of the black community.” Rashad also has numerous awards to her name, including a Tony Award and multiple People’s Choice Awards.
Woody Harris returns as Tony “Little Duke” Evers. His notable acting roles include that of Avon Barksdale in The Wire and Ace in Paid in Full. Recently, Harris received recognition for his portrayal of Damon Cross on the Fox series Empire.
Moreover, Florian Munteanu also reprises his character of Victor Drago, the son of former Russian boxer Ivan Drago. Florian is a German actor of Romanian decent, known for his portrayal of Razon Fist in MCU’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Munteanu will also go forward to act in the spin-off Creed series, Drago. This series puts focus on the story of Ivan and Victor Drago and will be the future continuation of the Rocky franchise.
Joining the cast for Creed 3 is Jonathan Majors as Anderson Dame, the presumed new antagonist in Creed. Majors appeared in Disney+’s Loki as He Who Remains. His role will also continue forward in future Marvel movies, including AntMan and the Wasp: Quantamania and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
Furthermore, Selenis Leyva, Thaddeus J. Mixson, Spence Moore II, and Mila Davis-Kent will also appear in the upcoming Creed movie. However, their exact roles still remain unknown.
New Release Date For Creed 3
The upcoming Creed installment that initially had a scheduled release date for 23rd November 2022 now faces some delays. According to the latest announcement, Creed 3 will now hit theatres on 3rd March 2023. The movie is pushed back an exact 100 days, and for all Creed fans, these 100 days surely will be testing.
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Moreover, with this push, Creed 3 now has to battle Paramount’s ‘Dungeons and Dragon: Honor Among Thieves. Nevertheless, given the exceptional storytelling and direction of the previous Creed movies, the team seems confident that even with the delays and added competition, the movie will do good in theatres.
Storyline
The exact storyline for Creed 3 still remains a secret. It seems like fans would have to wait till the movie releases to find out what the third part is all about.
The Creed sequel, released in 2018, ended with a bloody fight between Viktor Drago and Adonis Creed. Ivan ended up throwing in the towel on behalf of his injured son Viktor, indicating an end to the fight. Further, this also signified the hopeful end to the years of violence between the Creed and Drago families that began with Ivan killing Adonis’ father in Rocky IV. Further, Rocky goes to Vancouver to reunite with his son and grandson.
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Based on this, Creed 3 is likely to pick up from here and continue the story. With a new movie comes new competitors, so we expect Adonis to face some fierce boxers in the latest edition as well. Sadly, as previously discussed, Stallone’s Rocky would no longer be a part of the movie. Nonetheless, Fans are restless to see how the story progresses and whether it can live up to its predecessors.