Creed III Star Michael B. Jordan Teases Franchise Will Continue to Expand

02/02/2023 05:27 pm EST

Michael B. Jordan will make his directorial debut with the upcoming third film in the Creed franchise, and the movie couldn't come soon enough. Creed III will be the first film in the Rocky Balboa universe that won't feature Sylvester Stallone in a prominent way, and it will also introduce fans to a new antagonist for Adonis Creed to take on. Jonathan Majors (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania) joins the franchise as Adonis' childhood friend Damian, who just may be a little jealous of the boxer's success. Everything that has been released from the film looks incredible and will probably be another great installment, but with all franchises people are wondering what comes next. In a new interview with IGN, Jordan revealed that while Creed 4 is "for sure" more Creed spin-offs could follow it.

"I just want to expand the Creed-verse within reason," Jordan told the site. "But definitely expect other things around Creed for sure."

"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 explained during an October press conference and trailer reveal. "And having a character that I 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, a young Black man, just my life experiences and how I could actually share a piece of myself with the world through these characters and through this story."

On stepping out from behind the camera and into the directing ring, Jordan said, "I just felt it was the right time. I was talking to Ryan Coogler back when we were doing Creed I, and he was like, 'It's never the right time. You just gotta jump in the deep end and go for it.' I just felt like it was the right time for me." 

In pitting Adonis against Damian, who was like a brother to the young illegitimate son of world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weahters), the theme of Creed III is laid out in its trailer: "There's no enemy like the past." 

"Thematically, for us, family is always the core. Family and heart. You have to face your past and find out who you really are," Jordan said of Adonis' homecoming in the much-hyped Battle for Los Angeles. "That's something I think we address in this movie, sort of a homecoming ... remembering where you come from is really important in this one as well. Settling debts and being accountable for your actions is something that we wanted to look at."

Starring Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson, Jonathan Majors, Wood Harris, Florian Munteanu, Mila Kent, and Phylicia Rashad, Creed III opens in theaters March 3rd!

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