Creed II was one of the better sequels that the larger Rocky franchise has ever produced, but that film itself was dependent on what is probably the most popular sequel in the franchise Rocky IV. Creed II revisits that movie with a focus on how the events of Rocky IV had an impact on both men in the ring at the end of that film.
What Creed II doesn't do, somewhat unfortunately, is put Rocky Balboa and Ivan Drago up against each other once more, although it very nearly did. A scene was filmed for Creed II between Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren that would have had their characters get involved in an old fashioned fist fight, rather than a sanctioned boxing match, but the scene was cut from the film. Dolph Lundgren recently revealed that the decision to remove the scene apparently really upset Stallone...
For some reason, they took it out. I haven’t seen it cut together — I think it’s on the DVD or something. But Stallone was really upset, he wanted it in there. But I guess it broke the flow of the picture somehow, so there you go. Maybe next time.
The scene follows the first match between Adonis Creed and Viktor Drago. Creed wins the fight when Drago is disqualified for hitting him while he's down, but Creed is hurt badly and is in the hospital. The fight promoter arrives at the hospital with Ivan and Viktor to confront Adonis, but Rocky stops them in the hospital lobby, leading to the altercation. The scene is available on the video release for Creed II, but Stallone also showed off the behind the scenes work for the scene on social media a few months ago.
Dolph Lundgren also revealed at the FanX convention in Salt Lake City (via comicbook.com) that filming the scene got a little heated, as it was apparently filmed at the end of a long day and Sylvester Stallone had been feeling the effects of it...
I could see people clearing out. I was like, ‘This is not going to be good, I gotta get in a fight with this guy now?’ He’s also producing the movie, he’s my boss, all of that. It worked out fine, we both enjoyed it. But I think the director decided he didn’t want the fight in there.
While it would have been great for old school Rocky fans to see Stallone and Lundgren go toe-to-toe one more time, the fact is that Creed II didn't really need it. The movie isn't about the last fight, it's about the next generation dealing with the trauma that came from the first one. While Drago certainly has a reason to want to punch Rocky in the face a few times, it likely would have distracted the movie for little reason beyond fan service.
