Exclusive: Creed II featurette explores Ivan Drago’s quest for revenge

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) faced a lot of challengers over his boxing career, but his ultimate nemesis will always be Ivan Drago, played by Dolph Lundgren in ROCKY IV. In CREED II Drago is back for his revenge on Balboa, and will do it using his massive son, Viktor (Florian Munteanu), to defeat Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) in the ring. This new, exclusive featurette for the movie explores the vengeful mind of Drago and what role he plays in the new movie, with his sole mission being to take down Balboa after he humiliated him all those years ago. You know what they say: Revenge is a dish best served Russian.

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“Drago represents revenge,” Stallone says in the video. “So now he’s blaming his entire self-destruction on Rocky.”

“Ivan was an Olympic champion, he was a hero of the Soviet Union, but 33 years ago he lost a fight to Rocky Balboa,” Lundgren says. “But now he’s trying to come back onto the world’s stage, and he has to use his son to get there. So we’re coming to America to put on this fight against Adonis and confront Rocky and to let him know, “You did this to me, and now I’m going to do it to you and your boy.”

Our own Paul Shirey got a chance to sit down with the cast and crew of CREED II and talk with them about the upcoming sequel and also got to see an early screening of the movie. Stay tuned for that coverage and review coming soon!

Here's the synopsis for CREED II:

Life has become a balancing act for Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan). 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 (Sylvester Stallone) 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 is in theaters November 21.