Creed III Trailer Released

MGM has released the trailer for Creed III, the latest installment in the Rocky sequel franchise fronted by Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson. The series, which was developed by Black Panther mastermind Ryan Coogler, centers on the boxing career of Adonis Creed, the son of Apollo Creed, who for the first two films was trained by Rocky Balboa. The third film sees Adonis facing off with Damian (Jonathan Majors, playing a character who previous information suggested was named Anderson Dame). Majors, set to appear as Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, has become almost as big a name as Jordan recently, and joins a stacked cast that includes returning stars Tessa Thompson, Wood Harris, Florian Munteanu, and Felicia Rashad, as well as new cast members Selenis Leyva, Thaddeus J. Mixson, Spence Moore II, Mila Davis-Kent, and Canelo Álvarez.

Stallone will not return as Rocky Balboa, although he has suggested in the past that there still might be more story to tell with that character. Like Stallone before him, Jordan has stepped behind the camera and will film his own fight scenes as the director of Creed III. 

You can see the trailer above.

Per the trailer, it appears that Damian was a friend of Adonis's when he was young, and took the blame for something they did together, resulting in a life spent in prison. In the first Creed film, a flashback revealed that after the death of Apollo Creed, Adonis was officially adopted by Mary Anne Creed, who became aware that a child her husband had during an affair had fallen on hard times. After Adonis gives Damian a chance to come to the gym and train, it seems like the whole thing takes on a very Rocky V vibe, with Adonis's friend and mentee becoming unstable and ending up gunning for him.

Creed III serves as Jordan's directorial debut, carrying on a legacy that Stallone started in the original Rocky series. The actor and filmmaker wrote every screenplay, and directed all but Rocky and Rocky V. Each installment of the Creed franchise has been tackled by a different team so far, with Ryan Coogler directing the first from a screenplay he wrote with Aaron Covington; and Stephen Caple Jr. directing Creed II from a screenplay by Juel Taylor and Stallone, based on a story by Sascha Penn and Cheo Hodari Coker. Coogler returns to provide a story for Creed III, and the screenplay is written by Zach Baylin and Keenan Coogler.

Creed III is now scheduled to release in theaters on March 3, 2023.