If you loved seeing Michael B. Jordan portray the son of Apollo Creed, Adonis Creed, the first time, you may just get a chance to see him take the character one step further. Irwin Winkler, the producer of the highly successful Creed, says the first steps toward a sequel are imminent, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Next couple of weeks, we’ll start,” Winkler said on Feb. 29. “But basically it’s about Creed [rather than Rocky]. We think that there is really a story to examine the life of Adonis Creed, and we’re going ahead with it.”
Honestly, that is the best way to go at this point if the Rocky franchise is going to continue. We missed the boat with the possibility of Rocky’s son following in his father’s footsteps, but we are just getting started with Adonis, which is why a sequel seemed inevitable. Rocky Balboa has been the star of six films. It’s time for something new and Creed offered that to us all last year.
One would suspect a Creed sequel would once again cast Jordan in the role of Adonis Creed, but The Hollywood Reporter says Winkler did not say if the actor was under contract to return. It is also unknown if director Ryan Coogler would be back to guide the ship. Coogler’s style helped take the Rocky franchise in a new direction and introduced some fantastic cinematography to the film. His impact and influence on the film were key to making the movie a success, as is typically the case with a solid director. However, Coogler is getting involved with the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the director of Black Panther.
Over the span of the entire Rocky franchise, including Creed, there have been three different directors. In addition to Coogler directing Creed, Sylvester Stallone directed Rocky II, Rocky III, Rocky IV and Rocky Balboa. John Avildsen directed Rocky and Rocky V (seriously taking control for both ends of the Rocky spectrum). Having a different director can tend to lead to a different direction for a film franchise, but odds are Creed will continue to stick to its own identity as an extension of the Rocky franchise no matter who takes the director’s chair.
