Yahoo News Here's who returned for Creed III — and who didn't
Warning: This article contains light spoilers about Creed III
Creed III is here, and it marks the latest installment in the Rocky saga that has since become the Creed franchise. But while the new film is full of familiar faces, not everyone has returned from the previous films.
Who is back for Creed III?
Michael B. Jordan is obviously back as protagonist Adonis Creed, who is now on the verge of retiring from boxing so he can pursue other interests (like fashion and media) and focus on raising his family in L.A. In addition to acting and fighting, Jordan is also an executive producer on the film and has stepped behind the camera for the first time as the director of Creed III.
Tessa Thompson returns as Adonis' romantic partner Bianca Taylor. The last time we saw her in Creed II, she had given birth to a baby daughter named Amara, who was born deaf due to Bianca's hereditary hearing loss disorder. Creed III picks up several years later, and Amara is now a precocious young girl played by Mila Davis-Kent, who attends a special school for deaf children. Both of her loving parents now speak frequently in American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate with her. In order to preserve what hearing she herself has left, Bianca has given up performing in favor of becoming a producer and songwriter for other singers.
Eli Ade/MGM/Everett Michael B. Jordan, Mila Davis-Kent, and Tessa Thompson play a family in 'Creed III.'
Filling out this multi-generational family is Phylicia Rashad, who once again plays Adonis' adoptive mother Mary Anne Creed. Although she was the wife and widow of Apollo Creed, Mary Anne is not Adonis' biological mother; he was an illegitimate son of the boxing champion, which is why it took Mary Anne years to find him in a group home.
When it comes to characters outside the immediate Creed family, Wood Harris is back as Tony "Little Duke" Evers, a boxing trainer who now runs the L.A. gym originally patronized by Apollo. Jordan has known Harris since they worked together on The Wire all those years ago (where Harris played drug dealer Avon Barksdale, and Jordan played his young accomplice-turned-informant Wallace) and the actor gets much more screentime in Creed III.
Who didn't return?
One impossible-to-miss absence in Creed III is, of course, Rocky himself. Although he played an integral role in the first two Creed films, Sylvester Stallone is absent from the third installment. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in November, Stallone called it "a regretful situation." Though Stallone is a producer on Creed III, he is not an executive producer like Jordan, Creed director Ryan Coogler, and original Rocky producer Irwin Winkler. As a result, Stallone doesn't have as much control over the story and told THR "it was taken in a direction that is quite different than I would've taken it. It's a different philosophy — Irwin Winkler's and Michael B. Jordan's. I wish them well, but I'm much more of a sentimentalist. I like my heroes getting beat up, but I just don't want them going into that dark space."
Jordan has been diplomatic in his own interviews, telling the Los Angeles Times, "we're in a different age. I've got a following that love Creed for who he is. Some of these people don't even know who Rocky is." Nevertheless, Jordan also held out the potential of an eventual return in future movies: "If and when Stallone wants to be a part of this, publicly or privately, I'll always be here with open arms and a warm smile, like it's always been."
Dolph Lundgren is also not returning as Ivan Drago after previously reprising his villainous Rocky IV role for Creed II.
Are there any cameos?
Despite Lundgren's absence, Florian Munteanu does come back for a small cameo as Viktor Drago. The antagonist of Creed II is now on much better terms with Adonis — and seems like easy mode compared to the threat posed by new antagonist Damian Anderson (Jonathan Majors).
Also back for a fun cameo is Tony Bellew as "Pretty" Ricky Conlan, the British boxer Adonis faced off against in the climax of the first Creed. The premise of that fight was that the undefeated Conlan was about to begin an extended prison sentence and wanted to head out on a high note. Now, the roles are reversed somewhat, as Adonis wants to bring his own career full circle by facing off against Conlan one more time in his last official fight. But things may not go according to Adonis' plan.
Creed III is in theaters now.
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