Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) is about to step back into the ring for the third time. In the first two films, the championship boxer stepped out of his father, Apollo Creed’s (Carl Weathers) shadow, and faced the son of the man who killed his father. And as the Creed III trailer reveals, he will discover that he cannot outrun his past when a former friend (Jonathan Majors) becomes a bitter boxing rival.
The Creed franchise has been a massive success and grossed more than $377 million at the worldwide box office. As much as we love good sports cinema, the films celebrate Black culture and are powerful Black love stories told through the lens of an underdog sports drama. And the third marks two firsts for the franchise. Not only does Jordan makes his directorial debut, it will also be the first Creed movie without Sylvester Stallone reprising his role as Rocky Balboa. Ryan Coogler also returns as executive producer.
The Nerds of Color and other journalists had a chance to screen the first Creed III trailer at a virtual world premiere event yesterday, which you check out below. But we all attended a post Q&A with Jordan who talked about some of the themes we can expect to see in the highly anticipated sequel.
“I think thematically for us, family is always the core, you know, family and heart,” Jordan said. So I think there’s a bit you have to face your past and find out who you really are. You know, I think it is something that we address in this movie.”
The sequel’s tagline that “you can’t run from your past” plays a huge role in Creed’s story as the title character believes he can help Majors’ character, Anderson Dame, get back on his feet after doing a prison stint. “You know, it’s sort of a homecoming as well, You know what I mean? Remembering where you come from, I think is really important in this one as well,” she said. “I think settling debts and being accountable for your actions is something that we wanted to look at as well.”
“This movie has a lot of me in it and hopefully a lot of other people as well,” Jordan said about bringing his experiences into his directorial debut. “I wanted to create a story where everybody felt like they could relate to something in this movie. And those are just a few of the things that we have going on.”
One of the other themes that Jordan wanted to explore was family, and the choices that young adults have to make between advancing their careers or prioritizing family. “I think it was important to get to a pivotal point in Donnie’s career and in Bianca’s career,” he said. “I think we’ve seen them fall in love. We’ve seen them come together and create life in a family together. I wanted to get to the next stage, the next crossroads for them, you know? The next level of life and experience as young adults dealing with professional career and family, and the choices that come along with that.”
Jordan says he took a lot of his experiences from his personal and professional life and turned that into the story and a bit of commentary that you will see in Creed III. “I just had a lot to say around that, so I figured that we’d progress things there. You know, without giving away and talking about it too much, I feel like there’s a time where adults, people in a relationship have to make choices around selfish decisions and choices that… not selfish in a bad way, but just decisions for yourself versus decisions for your family, you know, and how do you compromise? Where’s the middle ground, you know,” Jordan said.
“You know, how do two people, who are two individuals, who are successful by themselves, how do you be successful together? I think that was something that we touched on a bit. Between our relationship and support for one another,” Jordan added. “You know, what does that look like? Who’s carrying the weight within a relationship? I think that was something we wanted to touch on as well. So you know, she’s progressed. Bianca is a strong woman and incredible mother, and a great wife. So that’s kind of how they evolved.”
Creed III opens in theaters on March 3, 2022.
Here’s the official plot synopsis for Creed III
After dominating the boxing world, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) has been thriving in both his career and family life. When a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy, Damian (Jonathan Majors), resurfaces after serving a long sentence in prison, he is eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring. The face off between former friends is more than just a fight. To settle the score, Adonis must put his future on the line to battle Damian – a fighter who has nothing to lose.