It's a wonder how Creed III will turn out. Not to indicate it will be a bad film, but will audiences except a film in the Rocky universe...well...without Rocky? Sylvester Stallone is not returning for the upcoming third installment in the spin-off series of his Rocky franchise (making it the ninth overall) and, as he's revealed lately, he's not happy how his iconic series is being handled by MGM. What's funny is how derivative the new film seems while trying to offer a fresh spin. Not only is lead star Michael B. Jordan carrying on the pattern Stallone set by directing the new film of his own franchise, the story has DNA of Rocky III and Rocky V.
The story will see Adonis (Jordan) at the peak of his career and facing off against Damian "Dame" Anderson (Jonathan Majors), an old childhood friend who just got out of prison after 18 years. Initially appearing as friend so he can train at Adonis' gym (why...hello there, Tommy Gunn!), Damian becomes set to pull a Clubber Lang. He sees himself as a fighter from the streets who deserves his shot at the belt and feels Adonis owes him a shot. All we need is Damian to make an awkward pass at Adonis' wife Bianca (Tessa Thompson) at a statute dedication, the death of a coach, and a hit single song to really iron in the similarities. Especially as Jordan has kept promoting the film as expanding the Creed universe (so...the Rocky universe that already is pretty expanded) and even touted how anime inspired by the boxing scenes. He keeps promoting the film as something new but even the final trailer shows it's pretty much business as usual. Check it out below:
Creed III co-stars Wood Harris, Florian Munteanu, and Phylicia Rashad. It is set to hit theaters March 3rd.