New Details On The “Creed II” Story
We know its coming and we know some of the cast, but specifics about the story for the upcoming “Creed” sequel have been under wraps beyond it involving the return of Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) from “Rocky IV” who has his own son who is also a fighter.
In the “Rocky” franchise, Drago killed Apollo Creed in the boxing ring, leading to Stallone’s Ricky Balboa taking him on in that fourth film. “Creed” centered around Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) who has been living with the legacy of his late father and being trained by Rocky.
“Luke Cage” showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker wrote the “Creed” sequel and in a new interview with
Slashfilm, he discussed his aim with the new film:
“It’s about the legacies of sons haunted by their fathers. Even though Drago is alive, his son is haunted by him because Drago is a broken man who is trying to rebuild himself through the son. Apollo Creed isn’t broken but because Apollo died, Adonis Creed is still haunted by his father’s death and how it defined him, what it is it means now to be a champion. He’s aspiring to be a champion but also at the same time trying to figure out who it is he is. Particularly with Bianca, particularly also because he’s got Rocky who at this point becomes the new Mickey.”
Stallone worked with Coker on later drafts, but Coker says his love of the first “Creed” made sure the film served as a proper sequel to that as opposed to another Rocky film:.
“The first Creed is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. I cried like a baby when they got to that scene when he’s like, ‘Why are you doing this, kid?’ and he’s like, ‘I just want to prove that I wasn’t a mistake.’ I’m sitting there, oh my God, I was verklempt, man. A lot of black men that have issues with their fathers, when they saw that scene, it became our Brian’s Song. It became our Remember the Titans. It became one of those movies that it is acceptable for ‘macho’ men to cry during. So the opportunity to work on Creed II was definitely something that I fought for, something that I couldn’t pass up. Later on, when I got to work with Stallone on the draft, that was a dream come true.”
Steven Caple, Jr. directs “Creed II” which sees Jordan, Stallone and Tessa Thompson reprising their roles. “Creed II” is in cinemas on November 21st.