Actor Michael B. Jordan is all set to add a ‘Director’ tag to his long list of credits, as boxing drama Creed 3 gets set to enter the ring soon. The 35-year-old Black Panther star shared a trailer featuring the film, and spoke of his excitement on his ‘most personal’ film yet: 

Taking over directorial duties from long-time collaborator Ryan Coogler, Jordan’s latest film explores Adonis Creed at the heights of success — living a peaceful life at the top of the boxing world, having proven his dominance across the story of the last two films.

Everything takes a sharp left turn, however, as a friend from Creed’s past named Anderson Dame (Jonathan Majors) returns — and over time, becomes his biggest rival. 

The plot sounds familiar to fans of the Rocky franchise, and for good reason. Several viewers noticed the similarities between Creed III and Rocky V — a film where Stallone’s titular boxing hero trains Tommy Gunn (Tommy Morrison), only to be betrayed and pitted against his former ally. 

Rocky himself is unlikely to make an appearance this time around and was only briefly mentioned in the trailer — though die-hard fans might hope for a cameo, given that Stallone is still an executive producer on the film. 

Here’s How Twitter Reacted To The Upcoming Film: 

For Jordan, who has now played the character for seven years, the film marks a major turning point in his career — and a way for him to express his identity and true character to the world. Here’s an excerpt from his recent interview with CineMovie: 

“I finally got to this place in my career where I wanted to tell a story and not just be in front of the camera, not just execute somebody else’s vision,” Jordan said. “And having a character that I’ve played twice before, it’s been seven, eight years living with this guy. So to be able to tell a story of where I believe Adonis is at, and also at 35 years old, I had a lot to say as a young man, as a young Black man, just my life experiences and how I could actually share that, share a piece of myself with the world – through these characters and through this story. So I just felt like it was the right time.”
 

CREED III will hit theatres on March 3, 2023. 

Lead Image: Warner Bros. Pictures