The Rocky franchise continues with Creed 3, and the director of the first of the spinoffs, Ryan Coogler, told Collider about his thoughts on the film. The Black Panther director has taken a backseat for the sequels to executive produce, and with leading star Michael B. Jordan taking a seat in the director’s chair, Coogler sang his praises for the film.
In the interview, Ryan Coogler was asked if he had notes for the first-time director of Creed 3. He did not want to divulge any behind-the-scenes feedback, but he did take it for a moment to talk about the “pride” he felt for the cast and crew.
“Fantastic. That’s what it was like. I was filled with a lot of pride for Mike [Jordan], for Jonathan [Majors], for Tessa [Thompson], for Phylicia [Rashad], and for the young star that everybody’s about to meet that plays Amara.”
Amara is a new character who is played by an undisclosed “young star.” The filmmaker also gave his love and respect to his “baby brother” Keenan Coogler and Zach Baylin (King Richard) for penning the script for the third installment of the films about Apollo Creed’s son’s boxing career.
Ryan Coogler sings praises for Creed 3
The film will follow Adonis Creed as he reunites with his childhood friend, Damian Anderson (Majors), who just got out of prison. Now, his old friend is looking for revenge as he sees Adonis’ success, and he wants that for himself. In typical fashion for the franchise, they settle things in the ring.
Originally, the film was set to release on November 23 and has been pushed to next year on March 3. Creed 3 being set to release next year does not take away the run Ryan Coogler is about to have between producing the boxing film and his next Marvel film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, hitting theaters on November 11. The upcoming superhero film will serve as the ending to Phase 4, with the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special serving as an epilogue, leading into Phase 5 next year with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.