Creed 3: If There’s A Trilogy, Do We Really Need Rocky Balboa?
It’s coming, sooner or later. It doesn’t really matter when, but if Creed 3 is expected to continue to follow in the Rocky franchise footsteps, we can soon expect a heart-wrenching scene. How long will it be before Adonis Creed has to bury Rocky Balboa? As a fan, it pains me to even write this but the writing is on the wall.
We fell in love with the Creed story the same way we fell in love with Rocky. The hard-luck kid who was given a shot and had nobody in his corner but a shy female and her drunk brother. Not quite the same for Adonis but you get the point. In the first Creed, Adonis was dealing with the pressure of fighting under Apollo Creed’s name. While being trained by Rocky, Adonis was able to overcome that. But just like Rocky before him, Adonis was given a scare that may have been more foreshadowing than anything.
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Remember Mickey? Yes, the same pint-sized, hard-nosed son-of-gun who trained Rocky to stardom. Well, in Rocky 3, Mickey died and it seems that the first two Creed movies may have set us up for a similar approach with Rocky. Our favorite street-brawler was diagnosed with Cancer and for a while, he wanted to give up and just die. However, Adonis made him promise to fight for his life. But how much fighting does Rocky Balboa have left? At some point, we have to accept that he will join Adriane.
This will be the turning point in the Creed series. While Mickey lasted through the first two movies, it may be wise for Rocky to die in Creed 3.
The plot for Creed 2 was to have Adonis fight Victor Drago, the son of Ivan Drago. For those with memory losses and the young viewers who follow Michael B. Jordan, Ivan Drago is the man who liked Adonis’s father, Apollo in the ring in Rocky 4. Creed 2 was all about revenge.
The early Rocky films saw two major characters die. One was Apollo and the other was Mickey. When Mickey died, Rocky was lost but it was Apollo who helped him get back in the ring. Do you see where this is going?
This is all full circle for Rocky. Rocky had no intention of fighting anymore before Apollo was killed. After that fight, it all went downhill for Rocky Balboa. He lost his money, then his wife, and became a regular citizen until Adonis found him. Much like Mickey before him, Rocky gets a second chance at redemption. But, in order for Adonis to reach his full potential, a sacrifice of one’s life (Rocky’s) must happen. I dread that day but Rocky became the true champ after Mickey died.
The rumors are that Sylvester Stallone is not sure if he will continue in the Creed series. But he does have stories in mind for another Rocky series. Creed without Rocky (if he’s still alive) makes no sense. There has to be that connection there. If he’s going to walk away from it all, then he has to go out in a way that true Rocky fans can relate to.
Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
