See Michael B. Jordan Face Off Against Jonathan Majors In Creed III Trailer
Michael B. Jordan is back in the ring as Adonis Creed in the first trailer for Creed III.
Adonis Creed is back, and if you thought his last fight was personal, you haven’t seen anything yet. MGM has dropped the first trailer for Creed III, and it’s clear that this is no longer a Rocky spinoff; this is completely Michael B. Jordan’s film to carry. The film, set seven years after Creed II, finds Adonis in a very different place, but once again, a ghost from the past is back to haunt him.
Creed III finds Adonis (Jordan) has conquered the boxing world and living his best life, until a face from his past reemerges: Damian (Loki‘s Jonathan Majors), a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy who has just been released after 18 years in prison. He wants to pursue his dream of boxing, and Adonis agrees to help him, but it’s clear Damian has anger issues and a grudge. Creed is left with little choice but to face off against his “brother” in the ring, putting everything on the line to settle a personal score.
The Creed III trailer reveals the film’s release date: March 3, 2023, and marks Jordan’s feature film directing debut. The film also stars Tessa Thompson (Thor: Love and Thunder) as Bianca, Phylicia Rashad as Mary Anne Creed, Wood Harris, and Florian Munteanu as Viktor Drago, who is not seen in the trailer, but confirmed to be in the film. The film’s poster features the tag line “You can’t run from your past.”
There are some quick shots of Adonis in training, and there is a vibe similar to the training montage in Rocky IV, with Creed going “old-school” with his training. However, as the first two films have shown, the story can follow many of the same themes as the Rocky films, but feel completely original. Creed III looks to continue that pattern.
The film has required Jordan to do double duty, directing his first film by day, while training to be in boxing shape by night. Last year, in the midst of production, he posted a video showing his workout routine to get his arms in shape, and as the trailer shows, the results are impressive.
Sylvester Stallone does not appear in Creed III, which seems to be a deliberate move to have Adonis Creed move out from under Rocky’s shadow. Because of the film’s time jump, we don’t know if Rocky is still alive, although we suspect that may be the best explanation as to why he doesn’t appear. Stallone, who remains a producer on the film, has stated that he’s excited by the film’s “really interesting” new direction, and he wished Jordan well in an Instagram post.
Earlier this year, Creed III moved its release date from this November to March of next year, seemingly to avoid having to go head-to-head with Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which opens on November 11. Ryan Coogler, who directed the first Creed and is producing Creed III, is directing the Black Panther sequel, so he likely didn’t want to see two of his projects in theaters at the same time.
More information on Creed III is available on the MGM website.
