A lot of fans aren’t going to be happy that Creed III will mark the first installment in the expanded Rocky saga that doesn’t feature Sylvester Stallone, but you could also make a well-founded argument that the spinoff series can’t keep leaning on the legacy of the Italian Stallion forever.
Michael B. Jordan is gearing up to make his directorial debut on the project, having sat under the learning tree of Denzel Washington and Ryan Coogler in the recent past, while he’ll have surely picked up a thing or two from his time working so closely with Sly on the first two movies.
Even though Rocky isn’t involved, which should in turn assist Creed III standing on its own two feet after the sequel leaned perhaps a little too hard into the Drago nostalgia, the sports drama does have the benefit of one of the industry’s fast-rising talents standing in the opposite corner of the ring from Jordan’s Adonis.
Jonathan Majors, who can be found almost everywhere you look these days, is the first and so far only new addition to the ensemble, and Jordan admitted to Variety that he can’t wait to get to work with the MCU’s Kang the Conqueror.
“Jonathan’s just an incredible actor, an incredible person. Me and him, we just connected the first time we spoke. And then when I pitched him the film, he hit me right back and it was all go from there, you know? So, he was bought in. He has so many different talents, and things that he brings to the table. He was just perfect for the role, so it was a match made in heaven. I’m extremely lucky. We’re very blessed to have him and I can’t wait for everybody to see what we do.”
Creed III is still tentatively penciled in for a November 2022 release, but Jordan and his crew will have to get a move on if they want to meet that date, but we can’t wait to see what’s in store whenever it arrives.
