Sylvester Stallone Thanks Fans For Their Support After Oscar Loss

Following his loss to Bridge of Spies's Mark Rylance at last night's 88th Annual Academy Awards, action movie icon Sylvester Stallone took to social media to thank fans for their support and assure them he wasn't taking it too hard.

In a pair of messages posted to his Instagram page, Stallone said, "officialslystalloneTo all the "real Rocky's" of the world, Please hang on to your dreams, NEVER GIVE IN , NEVER GIVE OUT , NEVER GIVE UP! thanks for the support," and then added a second message aimed at quelling some of the more frustrated voices in his audience.

Earlier in the day, Stallone's brother Frank -- an actor and musician -- had tweeted that "The Academy should be ashamed of themselves" and deemed his brother's loss "Hollywood bulls--t."

The elder Stallone responded, "I'm very happy and please understand my brother is so em motional because he is just very protective and only wants the best for me. Life is good!"

You can see the posts below.

To all the "real Rocky's" of the world, Please hang on to your dreams, NEVER GIVE IN , NEVER GIVE OUT , NEVER GIVE UP! thanks for the support.

A photo posted by Sly Stallone (@officialslystallone) on Feb 29, 2016 at 10:59am PST

Sorry, didn't mean for this picture to go up before saying that I'm very happy and please understand my brother is so em motional because he is just very protective and only wants the best for me. Life is good!

A photo posted by Sly Stallone (@officialslystallone) on Feb 29, 2016 at 1:28pm PST

Stallone was nominated for the award for his portrayal of aging boxer Rocky Balboa in Creed, the same character for which he was nominated for his only previous Academy Award in 1977 (for Rocky). Back then, he was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay.

In 1977, Stallone was actually nominated in both of those categories for each the Oscars, the Golden Globes and the BAFTA Awards. He didn't win any, although at the 2015 Golden Globe Awards, he did take home the Best Supporting Actor trophy for Creed.

Creed has found itself at the center of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, since it was generally expected to be considered for Best Picture or Best Director, neither of which happened. Michael B. Jordan also failed to secure a nomination for his performance as the film's lead. That the only major award nominations celebrated the only white lead in a primarily Black film wasn't lost on audiences -- or on Stallone, who reportedly offered to sit out the Oscars in protest, but director Ryan Coogler told him not to.

A sequel to Creed is already reportedly in development, with Stallone sharing at least a couple of possible ideas for the film in a recent interview.