Finally, cameras are rolling on Creed 2, as revealed by set photos which feature Dolph Lundgren and Florian Munteanu filming scenes at Philadelphia’s Museum of Art, the location of the famous “Rocky steps.” Lundgren is back to play his character from Rocky IV: Ivan Drago, the Russian giant who killed Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) in the ring. The eventual good vs. evil match was between Ivan Drago and Rocky Balboa. In Creed 2, Munteanu comes on board as Drago’s son Viktor who will fight against Creed’s son Adonis (Michael B. Jordan).
Sylvester Stallone is also back to play Rocky Balboa for the 8th time in Creed 2. In the first Creed film, Stallone had played an older Rocky, mentoring Adonis alongside battling cancer. That performance earned him an Oscar nomination. Creed ended with a weak and delicate Balboa coming back to climb the stairs of the Philadelphia Art Museum, just like he had done a long time back in the 1976’s original Rocky film, thus, giving his arc a complete circle.
The first set pictures from Creed 2 (revealed by Philly.com) show Dolph Lundgren, and Florian Munteanu face the camera as the senior and younger Drago at those famous steps from Rocky Balboa. What’s important to notice is that there is no Michael B. Jordan in the set photos, because he wouldn’t be filming for one more month. Apart from the photos, there is also a video on TMZ, featuring the Dragos at the head of the steps in winter clothing. We wonder if one of them is going to do the iconic Rocky Pose? Check out the video here.
More than three decades after Rocky felled the invincible Ivan Dragon in Rocky IV, Drago comes back with his son and is ready to fight. As is hinted by the images, they are not concerned about mocking Rocky by visiting his lair. What will be Rocky’s response to this challenge? Even more interesting will be to see Adonis’s response when he would face the man who killed his father? If you recall, Drago wasn’t apologetic or remorseful after having delivered the murderous blows on Apollo.
“If he dies, he dies,” Drago had said, with an absolute disregard for Apollo’s well-being.
It might be argued that the return of the clownish Russian Ivan Drago would make Creed 2 resemble a poorly made Rocky film. As the argument goes, the best part about Creed was that it eliminated various problems faced by the Rocky movies, by eliminating the stupidity and focusing on the main underdog narrative. It is true that Creed owed its success greatly to Ryan Coogler’s writing and filmmaking. Therefore, it is not surprising to see that Coogler has progressed greatly to make bigger and better films in Hollywood. For now, Coogler’s former film school classmate Steven Caple Jr. is going to direct Creed 2, based on a script written by Stallone and CheoHodari Coker (maker of Luke Cage). Seems like, it is all up to Caple to ensure that Creed 2 doesn’t plunge to the depths that we saw in Rocky IV.
