Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Creed III.
Michael B. Jordan’s directorial debut has arrived, with the third entry in the Creed series and the ninth entry in the Rocky franchise, Creed III. The film sees Jordan as Adonis “Donnie” Creed once again, except this time he has conquered all that boxing has to offer him, leaving the ring at the top. Tessa Thompson returns as Bianca, Donnie’s musician wife, while Mila Davis-Kent plays their daughter Amara.
Joining the cast is Jonathan Majors as Damian “Dame” Anderson, Donnie’s childhood friend who has spent the last 18 years in prison and is now hungry for his own shot at the title. But, noticeably absent from the cast list is Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa. Rocky does not make an appearance in Creed III at all.
You might be wondering why Stallone does not show up in the film or how Creed III handles the absence of the creator of the franchise. So let’s take a look at the movie and let you know how Creed III deals with Rocky Balboa.
How does Creed III address the absence of Rocky Balboa?
Rocky’s absence in Creed III is not addressed at all. In fact, the former fighter is only referenced a few times in the movie, when Dame and Donnie are discussing Donnie’s rise to fame, or Rocky’s fight with Apollo (Carl Weathers) in the first film. But, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Stallone has said himself that it was his wish to bow out of the franchise, stating, “I bowed out of that one, I just didn’t know if there was any part for me.”
Of course, anyone familiar with the Rocky and Creed franchises knows that he could always come back at any time, as characters from the series usually reprise their roles after not appearing in a few entries. Although, there is one scene in particular that he probably should have come back for. In the film, Mary Anne Creed (Phylicia Rashad) passes away after having a stroke. It seemed a little weird for Rocky to not be at her funeral.
They didn’t have too large of a scene at her funeral, so he probably still could have been there in the background and not talked to Donnie at all, but that seems fairly unlikely. Especially considering the circumstances regarding Dame at the time, Rocky would have been able to draw parallels between that and his prior relationship with Tommy Gunn. But, who wants to remember Rocky V?
Instead Rocky was probably with his son and grandson as seen at the end of Creed II. After Adrian’s death, Rocky seemed fairly closed off in Creed, so it’s nice to think that he’s enjoying the time he has with his family. Sylvester Stallone is also in the credits of the movie, as one of the film’s producers, and as a special credit which reads “Based on characters by Sylvester Stallone”.
It also makes sense that he would not be in the film, as Michael B. Jordan is trying to create his own Creed franchise. He has previously mentioned that he wants to build out his own Creed universe, and not having Stallone in it, or better still, having Stallone come back after being absent for some of the movies, would be the best way to go about it. Therefore, Jordan would not have to lean on legacy characters and build out his own universe of characters.
With all that being said, it’s unclear how Stallone feels about the situation. He is being credited on the films so he should be getting paid for every movie they produce, but he also infamously called out the rightsholders of the Rocky franchise for a Drago spinoff. It’s understandable that he is attached to the franchise after starring in, writing, and directing most of the films. That’s not even mentioning the fact that the original Rocky is what first made his career.
Whatever the issue is, it seems that he has nothing bad to say about Michael B. Jordan and Creed, even though he isn’t in it. Maybe he’s too busy making Tulsa King to worry about it. You can catch Creed III, without Rocky, in theaters from March 3, 2023.