A burgeoning cinematic universe continues to form around Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky franchise. With the Creed movies being as successful as they are, and a writer being hired to draft the Drago spin-off, things seemed to be chugging along well. Unfortunately, there’s a bit of bad news, as Michael B. Jordan’s upcoming movie Creed III has just hit a setback in its march towards release.
Namely, the threequel that marks Jordan’s directorial debut has had its release date shifted. Thankfully, it’s only by a couple of months, as the anticipated November 23, 2022 debut has now been dated for a March 3, 2023 unveiling. No reason was given by Variety when reporting on Creed III’s big move; however with the film having already wrapped its shooting schedule, the potential cause may not be that huge.
Just as mysterious as the reason for Adonis Creed’s shift into a March 2023 fight night is the story that Creed III will be telling. The most that’s been released is that Loki’s Jonathan Majors is playing the antagonist, as well as the fact that Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa will not be returning. Other than that, the actual plot is still lingering in the darkness, waiting to be brought into the light.
Strangely enough part of the competition for the November 23rd box office may have played a role in delaying Creed III to next year. As Jonathan Majors also has the Korean War aviation drama Devotion releasing on that day, there may have been a notion that the competition between both films would have been too much. With Majors’ star rising even further thanks to his role as the MCU’s Kang the Conqueror, loyal fans would have had to choose which film of his to see on that weekend.
Reactions to the San Diego Comic-Con footage of Kang’s return in Ant-Man and The Wasp in Quantumania only further bolster the fact that Jonathan Majors is going to continue to be in demand. Marvel itself doubled down on that claim, thanks to the announcement of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty being part of the MCU’s Phase 6 lineup. With Creed III positioning itself to drop after the third Ant-Man movie hits theaters in February 2023, this could be another signal that the delay isn’t stemming from major concerns.
Instead, this could be extra fuel in the tank for an already hotly anticipated movie. Capitalizing on the Marvel connected popularity of Jonathan Majors could make Creed III an even bigger hit than anticipated. There's even the potential for Michael B. Jordan to do some reshoots that beef up Majors' role into even more of a formidable foe.
This is all speculation, but looking at the cards on the table, it feels like a wise move to push Creed III into its new release date of March 3, 2023. Though the only problem is, the movie will now compete with Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. In the meantime, Jonathan Majors fans can still see him in Devotion, which at this time is maintaining its November 23, 2022 release date.
