Sylvester Stallone out of Creed 3, meaning Adonis won’t have Rocky in his corner

Rocky Balboa will play no part in forthcoming Creed III. Sylvester Stallone had previously suggested that Creed II was the last we’d see of the aging fighter, and his rep confirmed as much to The Hollywood Reporter this week.

Michael B. Jordan – who plays champion fighter Adonis Creed in the movies – is set to make his directorial debut with the third, which hits screens in November 2022.

Sly has played the iconic character across eight films – six Rocky flicks and two Creeds. In that time his work as Balboa has been nominated for two acting Oscars. But Creed II gave Rocky a fitting and emotionally charged send-off, with the beloved character’s story coming to its logical conclusion.

That won’t be the last we see of The Italian Stallion however, as Stallone has a pair of projects in different stages of development. First up there’s his new edit of Rocky IV. In August 2020, Stallone made this announcement on Instagram.

A post shared by Sly Stallone (@officialslystallone) officialslystallone Instagram

“For the 35th anniversary Rocky 4 is getting a new look DIRECTOR’S cut by me. So far it looks great. Soulful. Thank you MGM for this opportunity to entertain.” Sly added that the robot gifted to Paulie at the start of the film would be excised from this version, telling a commenter “The robot is going to the junkyard forever, no more robot.”

That anniversary – which was November 27, 2020 – passed without update or incident. Then yesterday, Stallone posted a video on Instagram with the message “Last day of completing Rocky 4!!! Get ready to RUMBLE!!!”

The clip sees Stallone explain why he’s giving IV another go. “We’ve just been working on punches and sound because it’s never complete. You can go back and see a movie that you’ve done 50 years ago and go ‘Oh God, I’d love to re-edit that.’ Every director feels that same way. It’s not about making a movie, it’s about remaking. Unfortunately, you run out of time, you run out of money, and they basically throw you out of the room. Therefore you don’t get a chance. But on this one we finally got a chance. I’m feeling great about this.”

Stallone isn’t done there either, as just last week, he posted plans for a Rocky prequel, set in the 1960s, and designed for TV. The writer-director posted a hand-written outline on Instagram.

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The following caption was posted with the outline: “I started out this morning by writing a treatment for a Rocky prequel for streaming. Ideally 10 episodes for a few seasons to really get to the heart of the characters in their younger years.”

So while Rocky Balboa is set to play no part in the next Creed, if Sylvester Stallone gets his way, we’ll be seeing lots more of the character, in both his heyday, and his distant past.