Even though the first Creed movie was a massive success, writer and director Ryan Coogler did not return to direct Creed II. The Rocky franchise began in 1976 with Sylvester Stallone playing the titular boxer. Throughout the 70s and 80s, Rocky became one of the most popular movie franchises in the world. Stallone returned to the role for 2006's Rocky Balboa, but this film acted as Rocky's swan song as a boxer. Therefore, after 2006, it was unclear if there was ever going to be another movie in the series. k23j

Creed II's move away from repeating the rematch storyline found in the Rocky movies is what ultimately made the spinoff franchise an independent $660 million success. Director Ryan Coogler brought the American sports drama saga back to big screens in 2015 with the Michael B. Jordan-fronted Creed, which became the first spinoff and seventh installment of the legendary Rocky film series. Creed has since led a multimillion-dollar and critically acclaimed trilogy on its own, although it has done so with no lack of references to the original Rocky movies and has utilized the treasured storylines of original Rocky characters to its advantage by developing them even further.

Learn all about the knockout, action-packed film, Creed II, including where you can stream it today.

Which is the best Rockyor Creed movie? With Creed IIIbringing the story full circle, the Rocky franchise now spans 9 films from 1976 to 2023 and ranking them is a reminder of just how incredible most of the entries have been. The release of Michael B Jordan's third Rocky spin-off continued the frankly incredible feat of there being a Rocky/Creed movie released every decade since 1976. That's the kind of longevity only matched by Sylvester Stallone's affable boxer in his extended career.

The Creed franchise has never given a clear indication of Adonis Johnson Creed's age, making it hard to tell how old he is in Creed III. Adonis is the protagonist of the Creed trilogy, which acts as a series of sequels to Sylvester Stallone's Rocky movies. Stallone reprises his role as Rocky, but the films focus on Michael B. Jordan's character as he fights his way to the top of the boxing world. The first film starts off in 1998 when Adonis is a child in a juvenile detention center, and his ion for fighting has gotten him in trouble. When the first film flashes to the present day, 2015, Adonis is an adult who quits his job to pursue boxing.

Creed III's fight scenes could push the envelope for the Rocky and Creed movies. Creed III sees Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) continue his career as a professional boxer, with his old friend Damian Anderson (Jonathan Majors) arriving to challenge him. Creed III marks the directorial debut of Michael B. Jordan, while it is also a first for the Rocky and Creed films in another major way.

Friends in real life and long-time on-screen collaborators, Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren have starred in five movies together. From Rocky IV to Creed II, audiences got to see Stallone and Lundgren playing deadly rivals, battlefield friends, and resentful ghosts of who they once were. Considering how long Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren have been friends, it’s interesting how those five movies belong to two franchises only – Rocky and The Expendables.

A Drago spinoff movie is in the works at MGM with Dolph Lundgren set to reprise his iconic Ivan Drago role, a surprising addition to the Rocky and Creed franchise. Dolph Lundgren played Ivan Drago for the first time in 1985’s Rocky IV, and then returned to the role 33 years later forCreed II. The Creed sequel not only brought Ivan back but also revealed the character had a son, Florian Munteanu’s Viktor Drago, who served as the film’s main antagonist and is also set to appear in the Drago spinoff.

Rocky's controversial Drago spin-off is not only attracting the ire of creator Sylvester Stallone, but is also focusing on the wrong aspects of its main character. Set to involve veteran action star Dolph Lundgren (seemingly without Stallone's blessing, judging by an explosive social media rant [via Instagram]), the movie will purportedly follow Drago and his son Viktor after their defeat at the end of Creed II. This approach, however, ultimately wastes the potential of one of the Rocky series' most iconic characters.

The Creed movies helped redeem Rocky's biggest antagonist Ivan Drago, and here's how the forthcoming spin-off can complete his arc. With its cheesy dialogue, MTV-inspired editing and long music montages, 1985's Rocky IV is the odd man out of the series. That said, it's also wildly entertaining and features some of the most iconic moments of the franchise. This includes the tragic death of Carl Weathers' Apollo Creed, following a bruising match against Russian boxer Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren).