If Michael B. Jordan wanted to retire from acting, he could probably make a nice living for himself selling workout supplements and fitness programs after his transformation in this year's films Black Panther and Creed II. In the latter film, Michael B. Jordan reprises Adonis Creed and looks every bit the part as a championship level, heavyweight boxer, and with good reason. The actor put on a whopping 20 pounds of muscle for the role.
It is not easy to get those kinds of gains even with the kind of help and resources Michael B. Jordan enjoys. Money doesn't do the lifting or the cardio for you, it takes a ton of work to pack on 20 pounds of muscle. Clearly Michael B. Jordan was willing to do that work to achieve this kind of transformation.
The results speak for themselves too. In the trailers for Creed II, Adonis Creed looks positively yoked with a granite-carved physique. Although it also required a ton of work, Michael B. Jordan's Creed II physique is not the same as the one he had for the villainous Killmonger in Black Panther.
Each role requires a different look and different workouts and diets to achieve it. For Killmonger, Michael B. Jordan had to look like a weapon, with size taking precedence over low-body fat or functionality. For Creed II, Michael B. Jordan had to be convincing as a high-level boxer. That required a different training regimen, as his trainer Corey Calliet explained:
For Black Panther I wanted to make sure we did a lot of weight training. I wasn't trying to make him as conditioned as I was for boxing, so we would do a lot of weight training, and the nutrition was very different. When training for a boxing movie, it takes a lot of plyometrics, like a lot of running, a lot of conditioning to break the body down to make the muscles real round and popping.
Michael B. Jordan looks more cut as Adonis than N'Jadaka, and that's the result of the training differences Corey Calliet described to Yahoo Lifestyle. Black Panther's role required size, which meant a lot of weight lifting. For Creed II, the actor did two-three full body workouts a day, and these workouts were way more cardio intensive. The diet was also very different as well to shred away all the excess and make for that boxer aesthetic.
That's part of what makes Florian Munteanu's Viktor Drago so terrifying. As huge and muscle-bound as Michael B. Jordan looks in the film, he's still dwarfed by the son of Ivan Drago. That should make for great drama in the film as Adonis has to face an opponent that has physical advantages he does not.
Florian Munteanu is an actual boxer, so the fact that Michael B. Jordan, while physically smaller, looks like he belongs in the ring with him, is a testament to the work he and his trainer put in for Creed II.
Creed II punches its way into theaters on November 21. Check out our Holiday Movie Guide for all of the sequels, blockbusters and awards contenders headed to theaters and streaming services the rest of this year.
