Creed IVis currently in development, and the narrative will need to take a major turn if the franchise is to avoid one of the major problems that plagued theRockyfranchise. After six movies starring Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa, the franchise veered in a new direction with theCreedmovies starring Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Creed, the son of Rocky’s longtime friend and rival Apollo Creed. WithCreed IVnow confirmed, the discussion now turns to how to progress Adonis Creed’s story.
Critics and fans alike have praised theCreedseries for its engaging stories and incredible performances, and while it shares some familiar notes with theRockyfranchise, it has largely followed its own path. After two movies following Adonis' rise to the top of boxing,Michael B. Jordan made his directorial debutwith the celebrated sequelCreed III, advancing Adonis Creed’s career forward several years. While the general timeline is similar to that of theRockyfranchise,Creed IVhas to take a new direction to avoid making the same mistakes of laterRockymovies.
Adonis Creed Is Already Past His Prime By The End Of Creed III
He Is A Well-Respected, But Aging Former Champion
One of the best elements of theCreedtrilogy is that it provides perspective on Adonis Creed’s life at completely different parts of his career;Creedcovers his first professional fight,Creed IIsees him ascend to the very top of the boxing world, andCreed IIIshows him near the end of his career. His fight and victory over his childhood friend Damian Anderson required aspecial Rocky-style training montagegiven that Adonis was essentially at the end of his career, focusing on training other fighters. The movie makes a special effort to emphasize how storied Adonis' career was.
2015
$40 million
$173.6 million
95%
89%
2018
$50 million
$214.1 million
83%
80%
2023
$75 million
$276.1 million
88%
Like Rocky inRocky IIIbefore him, Adonis has had plenty of successful title defenses and more wealth than anyone can imagine by the events ofCreed III. However, it is made very clear that he is past his prime at that point as a fighter. As a former champion, he is able to retrain his body and still manage to beat a strong but relatively undertrained fighter in Damian to regain his championship once again, which is reminiscent of the path that Rocky was on by the end ofRocky III.
Rocky Was Either Past His Prime Or Retired For Most Of The Rocky Franchise
Rocky Was No Longer At His Peak For Rocky III And Beyond
Rocky wins his first championship at the end ofRocky II, and his boxing prime is between that first title match and his fight against Clubber Lang. From there on out, Rocky is well past his prime in each of the matches he has in the franchise. Rocky is still champion at the beginning ofRocky IV, but in order to fight his match against Drago to avenge Apollo’s death at the massive Russian’s hands, he is forced to relinquish his championship.
Rocky,Rocky III, andCreedhave all been nominated for Academy Awards, and Rocky won three: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film Editing.
Rocky is suffering from mental disabilities and retires by the time the events ofRocky Voccur, and takes on a trainer role due to his financial troubles. His primary fight inRocky Visn’t even a sanctioned boxing match for a title, it’s a street fight against his former protege, Tommy Gunn. The franchise turns almost cartoonish inRocky Balboa, when a 60-year-old Rocky gets back in the ring against the much younger undefeated heavyweight world champion, and fights him to a split decision.
Rocky is past his prime for literally half of the entireRockyfranchise, making his later fights (and victories, both literal and metaphorical) seem repetitive and unbelievable. That is the main problem that theCreedfranchise now needs to solve: how to keep the focus on Adonis while not repeating the same mistakes of the laterRockymovies about an aging boxer overcoming the odds.
How Creed IV Can Make Adonis’ Story Believable Better Than Rocky
Adonis Should Take On The Trainer Role Earlier Than Rocky Did
Creed IVhas a tremendous opportunity to advance the franchise by makingsomeone other than Adonis the main focus. Creed III has already explored this ground a bit, with Adonis training his protege Felix Chavez for a match against Adonis' one-time nemesis, Viktor Drago. It’s an opportunity to dig into Adonis as a fighter coming to grips with the end of his fighting career to a degree that theRockyfranchise was never able to do. Given the timeline that the first three movies covered, it’s really the next logical step in Adonis' career progression.
Another time jump inCreed IVcould frame Adonis as the trainer for his daughter who is a rising star in the boxing world, providing a unique opportunity to shine a spotlight on women’s boxing.
As a trainer, Adonis can take over the role that Rocky played in the critically-acclaimedCreed, especially given thatthe franchise already set up Adonis' potential replacementin his daughter Amara. Another time jump inCreed IVcould frame Adonis as the trainer for his daughter who is a rising star in the boxing world, providing a unique opportunity to shine a spotlight on women’s boxing as well. No matter what directionCreed IVtakes, the writers need to ensure that the plot line of an aging boxer unexpectedly winning isn’t recycled, as it was in theRockyfranchise.
Rocky
The Rocky franchise follows boxer Rocky Balboa’s rise from underdog to champion, and later, Adonis Creed’s journey to honor his father, Apollo Creed. The films chronicle Rocky’s several rises and falls, and both it and the Creed series deal with their titular character’s internal and external struggles both in the ring and out.
