Dolph Lundgren says Drago will be a pretty damaged character in Creed II

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) will be stepping back into the ring next month for CREED II, and he'll be facing off against Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), who just so happens to be the son of the man who killed his father in the ring decades ago, Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren). After Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) defeated Ivan in ROCKY IV, life hasn't exactly been kind to the former Soviet champion, and Dolph Lundgren spoke with Empire to shed a few details on Ivan's state of mind in the upcoming sequel.

Basically, my character has been in a living hell since ’85 and lost everything. The script reintroduces him as a pretty damaged character, emotionally, and somebody who’s suffered a lot physically from a hard life. I can identify with that quite easily. The physical part [and] the emotional part.

This will be the first time that Dolph Lundgren will be reprising his iconic role, something which he had been hesitant to do. "It’s become an iconic character. People quote him and have T-shirts. I didn’t want to mess with that image," Lundgren said. "I didn’t see a way, up until now, that it would work. But obviously now when I’m old enough, suddenly I work as a parent. The father-son concept was quite good because I had a violent relationship with my dad […] many men do and end up in contact sports." Empire also revealed a new image from CREED II which you can check out below.

Despite the obvious bad blood between Apollo and the Drago's, Michael B. Jordan has previously said that the sequel won't just be about getting revenge. "Victor’s storyline is very layered. The two guys are similar in a lot of ways… Adonis feels, naturally, a certain animosity towards Viktor and Ivan, and then there are other themes in there: the maturity of growth, the importance of family, of legacy, is what makes Creed so special," Jordan said. "It’s not just about revenge. It’s about a lot of things… If we get that lesson across, then I think we’ve made a pretty special movie."

The official synopsis for CREED II:

Life has become a balancing act for Adonis Creed. Between personal obligations and training for his next big fight, he is up against the challenge of his life. Facing an opponent with ties to his family's past only intensifies his impending battle in the ring. Rocky Balboa is there by his side through it all and, together, Rocky and Adonis will confront their shared legacy, question what's worth fighting for, and discover that nothing's more important than family. Creed II is about going back to basics to rediscover what made you a champion in the first place, and remembering that, no matter where you go, you can't escape your history.

CREED II will hit theaters on November 21, 2018.