As Creed III opens to roaring praise during its opening weekend, with 2023 Oscars presenters Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors squaring off, one notable absence looms large in the latest entry in the Rocky franchise. (You should read Caroline Darney’s terrific review about how Jordan’s directorial debut unfolds.)
Sylvester Stallone — the man who penned the original 1976 Best Picture film, its ensuing five sequels, and had been in all eight preceding entries — does NOT appear in the latest chapter of Adonis Creed’s saga.
For the most part, as the series starts to veer more toward Creed’s story, Stallone’s absence isn’t all that noticeable. But for someone who quite literally created this fictional boxing world to not even make a short cameo is … a little jarring.
The situation is also a bit more complicated than it lets on. Let me explain.
[afflinkbutton text=”Watch Creed on Amazon Prime” link=”https://amzn.to/3XypxC8″]