By far and away the most famous, the most celebrated, the most loved fictional boxing hero ever to grace the silver screen, Rocky Balboa has been inspiring us all, thrilling us all, and thoroughly entertaining us all for well over 40 years.
And Sly Stallone’s greatest creation hasn’t finished punching just yet. It has been confirmed that there will be a third installment of the ‘Rocky’ spin-off series, ‘Creed,’ with ‘Creed III’ set for release in November of next year.
The ongoing story of Adonis Creed, son of course of former heavyweight champion and Balboa rival turned friend, Apollo Creed, ‘Creed III’ will take us who knows where with the continuing story of the new champion who was coached by the aging, cancer battling Rocky.
There is no word yet as far as if Stallone will reprise his famous role (Sly will turn 75 this September), but ‘Rocky’ fans everywhere will of course be hoping he does so. Michael B. Jordan, who plays Adonis Creed, will do what Stallone did from ‘Rocky II’ on, and that’s take on directorial duties.
This aside, there is precious little info about the film right now. Tessa Thompson will return as Creed’s girlfriend, while Phylicia Rashad will also return as Mary Anne Creed. Who Adonis will fight this time around, no-one knows.
There had been a story floating around a few months or so ago that said the third spin-off movie would see Creed face the son of one Clubber Lang (memorably and brilliantly played by Mr T in ‘Rocky III’ of course).
But that basic storyline was used in ‘Creed II” when Adonis faced Ivan Drago’s offspring. A fresh idea is needed and hoped for. If you can’t wait until November of 2022 for your next ‘Rocky’ fix, Stallone’s reboot of ‘Rocky IV’ has been close to being released for some time now and should be with us soon.
For many, ‘Rocky IV’ is the most over-the-top, most comic book-like episode of the series, and back when it was released in 1985 plenty of critics had a veritable field day. The whole USA Vs. Russia thing was just too much for many.
Yet for millions of other ‘Rocky’ fans, the fourth installment ranks as their favorite. And as a switch-off, guilty pleasure of a move that is literally a montage overload (some say the film is nothing but one 85 minute-long montage!), ‘Rocky IV’ sure is great fun and entertainment. Who didn’t cheer and punch the air when Balboa smashed Drago to defeat in Russia on Christmas Day, thus avenging the death of his friend and former rival?
How much more Stallone can extract from the film we do not know, yet there could be a generous amount of unseen footage, stuff that was deleted from the final cut.
Aside from 1990’s ‘Rocky V,’ Sly has never let us down when it comes to having his southpaw slugger send us out of the cinema feeling pumped up and wanting to either do some roadwork or look for the nearest boxing gym, and hopefully, the new version of ‘Rocky IV’ will prove to be as exciting and as entertaining as the original was (for some fans, not all) back in the mid-1980s. And though you may feel there is no real need for a ‘Creed III,’ this movie may well surprise us. Let’s hope so.
The more enthralling boxing films there are, the more fans the real sport gets.