'Creed 3' Will Be Directed By Star Michael B. Jordan, Confirms Tessa Thompson

‘Creed 3’ Will Be Directed By Star Michael B. Jordan, Confirms Tessa Thompson

In October of this year, word broke thatCreedfranchise starMichael B. Jordanmight end up directingCreed III. Now, Jordan’sCreedco-starTessa Thompsonhas confirmed just that, revealing in an interview that Jordan is indeed set to direct the eventual sequel. This would mark Jordan’s directorial debut, and would also follow precedent sinceRockystarSylvester Stallonewent on to direct severalRockysequels.

In his bookA Life in Movies: Stories From 50 Years in Hollywood,RockyandCreedproducerIrwin Winklerrevealed that star Michael B. Jordan could be stepping behind the camera for anotherCreedfilm. “I promised Michael B. Jordan that he’d get his chance to directCreed III,” Winklerwrotein an excerpt that surfaced in October 2020. “Last year in a conversation with ourCreedstar Michael B. Jordan, I offered him the opportunity to not only star in, but also to directCreed III.”

Now, as 2020 comes to a close, we have confirmation on that from another source close to the production: Tessa Thompson. In avideo interviewpromoting her latest filmSylvie’s Love, Thompson was asked if Jordan would be helmingCreed III, to which she replied yes while poking good-natured fun at Jordan’s recent coronation asPeople’s Sexiest Man Alive 2020.

And unless Jordan has a top-secret directorial project he’s going to helm first, that would makeCreed IIIhis directorial debut. And in some ways, he’s following tradition.Creedis a spin-off of theRockyfranchise, andRockyandCreedstar Sylvester Stallone ended up directing severalRockysequels –Rocky II,Rocky III,Rocky IV, andRocky Balboa.

Beyond Jordan becoming director and returning as star, we don’t know a whole lot aboutCreed III. At one point, Stallone said he wanted to bring in the son of Clubber Lang, the villain fromRocky IIIplayed by Mr. T, for Jordan’s Adonis Creed to fight. There were also reports that theRockyfranchisemight start back up again separate fromCreed, with Stallone’s Rocky mentoring another young fighter. But we haven’t heard much about that since 2019.

I’ll let the professionals handle this, but in my humble opinion, IreallyhopeCreed IIIdoesn’t use the “son of Clubber Lang” idea.Creed IIalready brought in the son ofRocky IV’s Ivan Drago, and to have Jordan’s Adonis Creed keep fighting the sons of Rocky’s former opponents is a tired, boring idea. The firstCreed, directed by Ryan Coogler, was fantastic – a great continuation of theRockyseries that also forged its own identity.

Creed II, helmed by  Steven Caple Jr., was a bit of a step down. While Jordan remained a compelling lead, and the relationship between Adonis and Rocky remained interesting,Creed IIfelt too much like aRockysequel and not its own thing. My only hope forCreed IIIis that it gets back to embracing its own identity instead of remaining so beholden to theRockyseries.