One of the most eagerly awaited movies in 2023 is Creed III, starring Michael B. Jordan. His character Donnie Creed makes a second appearance in the film, and it also serves as his directing debut. As the release date approaches, more and more information is becoming available, and interest in the series among fans is rising rapidly. The film is also the first in the series without Sylvester Stallone, who created it. Jordan discussed the Rocky actor’s absence and how the franchise carries on his legacy “in spirit” in a recent interview with Empire.
Adonis “Donnie” Creed will battle a foe from his past in the third Creed movie, which is set five years after the events of Creed II. Jonathan Majors’ Damian Anderson, a boyhood buddy who served a lengthy jail sentence, will make a comeback in the movie. Donnie and Damian are forced to face each other in the previously released photographs and the teaser because they are unable to hide from their pasts any longer. Speaking more specifically about the themes of Creed III, Jordan said, “It’s truly going into the Creed universe and having him develop, create his own family, and go through his struggles and tribulations in life.” In the 2015 spin-off, which Ryan Coogler directed, Stallone makes a comeback as Rocky. Apollo decides to train Donnie because he is the son of his former foe and friend, and so Donnie’s quest starts. “It’s allowed Adonis to stand on his own two feet and employ the wisdom he’s received from Rocky in the other two films,” says Jordan of how his character’s journey through the previous two films will influence the upcoming picture.
Rocky producers are not giving Stallone his due for founding the franchise and having little influence over it, therefore he is engaged in a very public struggle with them. He has used social media twice in the past year to express his discontent with a few future Rocky-related ventures. However, he also described his absence from Creed III as a “regrettable scenario” in a recent interview, adding that the future film may have taken a different turn.
The next film will include Tessa Thompson as Bianca, Wood Harris as Tony “Little Duke” Evers, Florian Munteanu as Viktor Drago, and Phylicia Rashad as Mary Anne Creed in addition to Jordan and Majors.
March 3, 2023, will be the global debut of Creed III.