The Rocky franchise may have shifted focus to Adonis Creed with the arrival of Ryan Coogler's Creed back in 2015, but Mr. Balboa remains a crucial fixture in the boxing series. That's set to continue with the debut of Creed 2 later this year, and the marketing for the film is now picking up steam. In fact, a brand-new poster has been revealed by none other than Sylvester Stallone, and it shows Creed 2's Rocky in all of his glory. Check out the post, below!
Adonis Creed is still a relatively young and inexperienced fighter compared to the guys who have come before him, but this picture makes it clear that Rocky Balboa will continue to help him and stay in his corner as his trainer in the highly-anticipated sequel. The poster doesn't give us a close up look at Rocky in the upcoming movie, but it does offer an enticing look at the next iteration of the classic cinema hero.
Creed 2 will continue the story that began with Creed, but also threads from the 1980s and the events of Rocky 4. Now a more confident and established boxer, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) finds himself up against Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), the son of Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), the man who killed Apollo Creed a.k.a. Adonis' dad in the ring back in 1985. This rivalry will bring old wounds back to the surface for both Adonis and Rocky, and we can only assume that the sequel will deliver some fantastic performances in addition to some genuinely visceral boxing scenes. The film will bring back Tessa Thompson as Bianca, but original director Ryan Coogler has vacated the director's chair and handed the reins over to Steven Caple Jr.
We still have a fair number of unanswered questions about Rocky Balboa and his involvement in Creed 2. Some fans have begun to wonder if Sylvester Stallone will return to the ring against Dolph Lundgren's Ivan Drago, while others have similarly started to wonder if Rocky's cancer from the first Creed could make a return. We already know that Dolph Lundgren has been training for his return as the elder Drago in the sequel, but there's just as much a case to be made that the filmmakers likely won't let Rocky step back into the ring because of his advanced age, and the fact that Rocky Balboa helped punctuate his time as an active fighter.
Make sure to stay tuned for more updates related to Creed 2 as they become available to us. Until more news breaks, you can head over to our 2018 movie premiere guide and check out all of the notable release dates for the rest of this year, and then mark Creed 2's November 21st release date down on your calendars!
