Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky franchise remains the definitive example of an underdog sports story, which managed to gain a new lease of life following the release of the spin-off series Creed, starring Michael B. Jordan. Rocky has had a fascinating history, as the original 1976 film took home Best Picture at the Academy Awards and propelled Stallone to worldwide fame. Throughout the years, the series continued the story of Rocky Balboa as he faced fearsome foes time and again before pᴀssing the torch to his mentee, Adonis Creed, and taking on a supporting role in the spin-off films.
While the Creed series has been conscious to pay tribute to the legacy of Rocky and features plenty of allusions and returning characters from the earlier films, that’s not to say that some ᴀssumed details weren’t retconned. As a spin-off released 37 years after the original film, Creed focused on the illegitimate son of Rocky’s old rival Apollo Creed, which felt like it went against some previously ᴀssumed details about the former heavyweight champion. Although these changes felt jarring at first, this clever retcon was actually central to saving the franchise and maintaining the Rocky series’ relevance in modern times.
Revealing Adonis As Apollo Creed’s Son Felt Like A Rocky Retcon
Apollo’s Affair Feels Out Of Step With His Character
The bombastic, overconfident, and at times arrogant Apollo Creed was Rocky Balboa’s greatest adversary, repeat rival, eventual friend, and a central character of the first four Rocky movies. While Michael B. Jordan’s character Adonis was revealed to be Apollo’s son from an extramarital affair, it was impossible to ignore the fact that this went against everything we thought we knew about Apollo’s personal life. Throughout the Rocky movies, Apollo was shown as a committed family man who seemed loyal to his wife, Mary Anne, his son, Alexander, and his daughter, Artemis.
While Apollo took up a villainous role in the first Rocky, as the series went on, the two started to forge a friendship, and we gained insight into his character traits. As a determined and committed fighter, Apollo trained Rocky for his rematch with Clubber Lang in Rocky III, much in the same way Rocky would later train Adonis in the Creed series. As a man whose entire existence was based on balancing his boxing career with his family life, it felt out of character to learn that he had impregnated another woman shortly before his death in Rocky IV.
Adonis had boxing in his genes, and as a troubled kid who spent time at a youth detention center, he saw the sport as a chance to transform his life.
The revelation that Adonis was a secret third child born after Apollo was killed in the ring fighting Ivan Drago in Rocky IV felt like a retcon, as it was never even hinted at previously. However, this added a sense of depth to Adonis’s character, as his difficult upbringing meant he was much more of an underdog than if the series had focused on Apollo’s more privileged son. Adonis had boxing in his genes, and as a troubled kid who spent time at a youth detention center, he saw the sport as a chance to transform his life.
The Creed Movies Saved The Rocky Franchise
Creed Pushed The Franchise In An Interesting New Direction
The retcon of Apollo Creed’s affair was necessary to lay the foundations for the Creed series. While the original movie remains one of the greatest sports films of all time, Rocky II was a fantastic sequel, and Rocky IV stands as a fan favorite; the harsh truth was that the movies went through a rough patch. Rocky V was a particularly egregious disaster, filled with melodrama and ending in a poorly choreographed street brawl. While Rocky Balboa in 2006 was a decent epilogue to Rocky’s legacy, the series was in deep need of a change.
Apollo Creed was played by Carl Weathers in the Rocky series, who’s also known for his roles in releases like Predator, Happy Gilmore, and The Mandalorian.
This was where Creed came in, and coming nine years after fans had thought the series had ended for good, it revitalized the franchise and kickstarted an exciting new era. By allowing Rocky to take on a mentorship role, Creed acted as a kind of pᴀssing of the torch, which helped keep Stallone involved without the need to push an elderly Rocky back into the ring. With themes of idenтιтy, struggle, and self-worth, Adonis was a three-dimensional character who gave the Creed movies an emotional depth and purposefulness that was missing from the final Rocky movies.
The Creed Movies Have Already Eclipsed Rocky In One Important Way
Rocky Was Never As Consistently Great As Creed
While many will argue about which was better, Rocky or Creed, the Creed movies have managed to pull off one impressive feat that Stallone’s original films could never quite manage. That’s because all three Creed movies were absolutely excellent, whereas Rocky III felt weak and unnecessary, and Rocky V was notoriously the worst release in the entire franchise. With a consistently high quality, director Ryan Coogler set Creed on an outstanding path, and each movie had something interesting and vital to say.
The original Creed was an incredible underdog story that leaned into all the aspects that made Rocky such a success back in 1976 while updating its themes for modern times. Creed II had real emotional stakes as Adonis faced off against Viktor Drago, the son of the fighter who killed his father, making for an extraordinary film that was able to delve into the buried trauma of his character. With Creed III, Jonathan Majors came in as a new threat as a childhood friend turned rival who exploits Adonis’s goodwill to carve out his own boxing career.
Michael B. Jordan took over directing duties from Ryan Coogler for Creed III, and it was immediately clear he was intensely committed to his role, and the series has always struck the right balance between paying tribute to the past and carving its own path. Although Stallone did not appear in Creed III, Jordan has stated (via Sports Illustrated) that the door is always open for Rocky to return in future movies, like Creed IV, which is in active development. While Creed owes its existence to a retcon, it worked in its favor and has led to three excellent movies.
Rocky
- Created by
-
Sylvester Stallone
- First Film
-
Rocky
- Latest Film
-
Creed III
- Upcoming Films
-
Creed 4
- Cast
-
Sylvester Stallone, Michael B. Jordan, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith, Tony Burton, Mr. T, Brigitte Nielsen, Dolph Lundgren, Tommy Morrison, Antonio Tarver, Tessa Thompson
Summary
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 тιтular character’s internal and external struggles both in the ring and out.
