If there were any doubts about the future of the Rocky franchise with Sylvester Stallone’s titular character no longer being involved, they were thrown out the window in October 2022 when the Creed III trailer debuted and offered a glimpse at the upcoming boxing movie. The trailer, which shows off franchise newcomer Jonathan Majors’ physically dominant Damian Anderson getting personal with Michael B. Jordan’s Adonis Creed, is full of drama and some top-notch boxing sequences that put it up there with the best the franchise has to offer.
Before watching the trailer I didn’t think I could be more pumped up for the movie’s March 2023 release, but now I’m feeling the urge to look into getting myself cryogenically frozen so I don’t have to wait the four-and-a-half months until it finally drops. Here are a handful of moments from that explosive trailer from first-time director Michael B. Jordan that have me super excited for Creed III.
Adonis And Damian Catching Up At The Diner
The tension in the diner scene very early on in the Creed III trailer is so thick, not even the knives placed on the table could make a scratch. Adonis and Damian catching up 18 years after the the latter was sent to prison for a crime they assumedly committed together is tense, awkward, and painful as the two former friends come to terms with how their lives went in two vastly different directions.
Majors, who got absolutely jacked for the role, is especially great in this brief scene, as the recently released ex-con looks around frantically at his new surroundings and talking to his old friend about life in prison and still having “gas in the tank.”
Damian Showing Off His Brutality At The Gym
Early on in the Creed III trailer, Adonis Creed welcomes Damian Anderson into his gym to work on his boxing skills after his former friend returns home. Though it’s supposed to be nothing more than a friendly training match between Damian and another boxer at the gym, the unhinged fighter doesn’t hold back and shows off just what two decades of pent-up rage and trauma can do to a person psychologically. Combine that with that ridiculous physique and you have yourself an intense display of power.
Clearly, Damian isn’t like any boxer Adonis has squared-up against in the past, and it looks like this will prove to be his toughest fight yet, both in and outside of the ring. Even though Majors isn’t playing the son of Clubber Lang in the movie, his character sure does look as fierce, angry, and brutal as Mr. T’s Rocky III villain.
Adonis Training With His Daughter
The theme of familial bonds has always been front and center throughout the Rocky and Creed movies, with the dynamic between Rocky Balboa and his son being a major focus of the later movies in the historic franchise, and Adonis dealing with his old man’s legacy in the newer movies. After seeing Adonis training with his daughter (there was a major time jump between Creed II and Creed III), I’m glad that tradition is continuing.
The boxing sequences and those training montages (more on both later on) help make the Rocky and Creed movies all-time greats with some truly iconic scenes, but it’s the family element that has alway been the string that keeps the gloves nice and snug. How Adonis deals with being a father of a young daughter in today’s world has a lot of potential.
Adonis Training Like Rocky In The Woods
You can’t have a Rocky or Creed movie without an over-the-top training montage, and it looks like Creed III is going to be giving us not one but two — one for each of the two main characters. Though the new trailer doesn’t show the extent of his training, there are glimpses of Adonis’ preparation for his big fight with Damian, specifically a shot of him straight-up punching trees in the woods.
This has me excited for a couple of reasons. First, few things make someone look tougher than punching what looks like a redwood. And second, this looks and feels like the epic Rocky IV training montage that saw Sylvester Stallone’s character taking a primitive approach to his fight prep. I don’t know about everyone else, but my heart was on fire when Adonis was training in the wilderness like his old mentor.
Damian Training At What Looks Like Venice Beach
Adonis isn’t the only boxer to get a training sequence in the Creed III trailer, as there are several shots of Damian preparing for the big fight with his old childhood friend. Though brief, there are a couple nuggets of footage showing off the villain’s physical presence, including one that looks like he’s working out at Venice Beach, California, in front of a crowd and camera crew.
But the footage that has me really jazzed up is the shot of Damian running on the beach with a parachute to work on his strength and conditioning. This looks a lot like the Rocky/Apollo Creed training scene in the superior Rocky III, when the “Italian Stallion” was prepping to take on Clubber Lang. It adds to the whole dynamic of moving forward while honoring the past and a 40-year-old boxing movie.
Adonis And Damian Finally Squaring Off In The Ring
The moment from the Creed III trailer that has me the most excited, however, comes in the final moments when the two childhood friends finally square off in the ring. Man, this looks like it’s going to be a brutal, painful, and emotional fight as the two fierce competitors put all their feelings into every single punch. This very well could be a championship fight, but for these two, it is something more than that. To Adonis and Damian, this is more than business. This is personal.
Years later, when we’re discussing the best fights in the Rocky and Creed movies, I’m sure this will be near the top of that list, and I haven’t seen more than a few frames of action.
As you can tell, I’m ecstatic to finally get a chance to see Creed III after watching the film’s explosive first trailer. There are still a few months before we get to see the highly-anticipated 2023 movie in full, but we have plenty of 2022 new releases to hold us over in the meantime.
