Sylvester Stallone, who co-wrote Creed II, gave a little passing of the torch scene at the end where he told Adonis, “It’s your time now.” Then, Rocky is seen visiting his son in Canada, where he meets his grandson. It’s not a definitive ending set in stone for this larger-than-life character, but it could serve as a satisfying enough conclusion for the Balboa legacy as Michael B. Jordan attempts to have the character blaze his own path for Creed III.
Stallone would have been open to return for Creed III. However, he revealed in his interview with The Hollywood Reporter that he hadn’t been consulted nor asked to return for future projects in the Rocky brand. When inquired about his feelings on going to see Creed III without having been involved with it, Stallone mentions that he would’ve preferred the movie to have a more classic underdog tone,
That’s a regretful situation because I know what it could have been. It was taken in a direction that is quite different than I would’ve taken it. It’s a different philosophy — Irwin Winkler’s and Michael B. Jordan’s. I wish them well, but I’m much more of a sentimentalist. I like my heroes getting beat up, but I just don’t want them going into that dark space. I just feel people have enough darkness.”
He looks forward to his new project, Tulsa King, though. That show will no doubt have darkness, but also some humor about it, as he plays a mobster bringing a crime ring to a humble town in Tulsa. While reflecting on his movies, Stallone mentioned that he’s proud to have shown the brutal reality of the unfortunate situation in Burma in Rambo (IV), “One film I’m truly proud of — it’s the best action film I’ve ever done because it’s the most truthful — is Rambo IV, dealing with Burma, where they’ve had a civil war for 67 years. But I got excoriated because the movie’s so violent. And it is violent. It’s horrifying. It’s children being burnt alive. That’s what makes civil war worse than anything: It’s your neighbor, all of a sudden, killing you. I was really happy with that film, and I never thought it would ever reach the theater. I thought, ‘They’re never going to show this.'”
Are you still going to support Creed III, even if Sly isn’t involved? Let us know in the comments!