Last week, it was announced that Sylvester Stallone wouldn’t be reprising his role as Rocky Balboa in Creed III, the third instalment in the Creed franchise, and now lead actor and director Michael B. Jordan has revealed why the Italian Stallion won’t be appearing in the next instalment.
In an interview with IGN, Jordan explained that the creative team “really want to build this story and this world around [Adonis] moving forward” without Stallone’s Balboa serving as Adonis Creed’s coach.
“Yeah, I think that Sly let it be known that he wasn’t coming back for this one but I think, you know, his essence and his spirit… there’s always going to be a little bit of Rocky within Adonis,” Jordan said. “But this is a Creed franchise, and we really want to build this story and this world around him moving forward. So, it’s always respect and always a shit-ton of love for what he’s built, but we really want to push and navigate Adonis forward and the family that he created. So, hopefully you guys will love what I’m thinking… what we’re cooking up. I think it’s going to be something special.”
SEE ALSO: Why Creed needs to leave Rocky Balboa behind
Creed III will be directed by Michael B. Jordan from a script written by Zach Baylin and Keenan Coogler, brother of the director of the first Creed movie, Ryan Coogler. The film will see Jordan reprising the role of Adonis Creed alongside the returning Tessa Thompson and Phylicia Rashad. It is currently scheduled for a Thanksgiving 2022 release.
