Despite Creed III being an absolute knock-out at the box office, the final instalment of the trilogy is missing one winning ingredient.
Veteran actor Sylvester Stallone does not appear in the film, despite the 76-year-old penning all six Rocky films and the first two Creed films, along with starring in every movie until now.
Instead, actor Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors will be squaring off by themselves – leaving many fans wondering why Stallone has bowed out of the franchise he created.
Though the tale of an underdog boxer launched Stallone’s career and won Best Picture at the Oscars, the veteran actor jumped ship from the final Creed movie because of creative disagreements.
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Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Stallone said he was a ‘sentimentalist’ and found himself at odds with Creed III's darker tone.
He told the publication: “I wish them well [Jordan and the cast], but I’m much more of a sentimentalist.
"I like my heroes getting beat up, but I just don’t want them going into that dark space. I just feel people have enough darkness.”
It’s just one reasons why the actor won’t have a cameo in Creed III, despite fans wanting him to appear.
Another major factor is the actor’s ongoing feud with Irwin Winkler, who is the producer behind the award-winning franchise.
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Stallone originally sold the rights to his iconic character to the Hollywood executive, not knowing just how the franchise would help his career go the distance.
It caused a bitter feud with the gloves coming off as they fought over a proposed Ivan Drago spin-off and a biography about the films by Winkler’s son.
In an Instagram rant worthy of a pre-fight press conference, Stallone compared the biography to ‘toilet paper’ and called the executive’s children ‘vultures’.
He even called took a jab at Winkler in later post, writing: “[It] eats at my soul, because I wanted to leave something of Rocky for my children.”
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It’s now unlikely that the actor will appear in another Rocky film or any of its spin-offs, which is a bitter blow for fans.
Michael B Jordan, who will be making his directorial debut with the film, has also suggested he was keen to see Adonis move out from Rocky's shadow in the latest sequel.
He told HOT97: "First of all, Sly and Rocky’s DNA is through this entire franchise.
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"I want Adonis to stand on his own two feet. In order to do that, we had to go into the past.
"What were those transformative years, those childhood traumas that shaped [Adonis] today? I think the room for this story was really about Adonis Creed moving forward with his family, and having him move forward.
"That’s kind of how we rolled out the story for this one."
Nevertheless, it’s definitely not the way fans wanted Stallone to bow out from the franchise.
Topics: Sylvester Stallone, Michael B. Jordan, Film and TV, Celebrity, Boxing