Massive spoilers to follow …
Creed is turning into quite the success story. The film largely flew under the radar during its production and in the run up to its release, for several obvious reasons. If you count it as a Rocky installment, which it really is, it's the seventh in a series that no one really felt needed continued past 2006's Rocky Balboa, which was already meant to serve as the franchise's epilogue. Plus it was set to open just after the final Hunger Games installment and just before a galaxy-shattering event called Star Wars: The Force Awakens. There wasn't a lot of room left in the current pop-culture discussion for Creed.
But then it opened, and everyone fell in love with it (including me). It finished third in the Thanksgiving weekend box office race but still carried a lot of headlines with its impressive $42.6 million haul, which already covers the film's budget and accounts for nearly two-thirds of what Balboa pulled in domestic over its entire run. There's even talk of Sylvester Stallone earning a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for his performance (which I would totally be down with). By all accounts, the movie is a smash and should have legs throughout the holidays as word of mouth spreads.
So, of course, there is immediately talk of Creed II. Will it be made? When will it be made? What's the story? Who will Adonis Creed fight next?
To which I implore everyone: Please. Stop. Don't.
Yes, I know folks could have (and may have) said the same thing after the original Rocky opened, and that its many sequels led to not only Creed itself but hours of enjoyable couch-potato-ing as you laid around in front of your TV, perhaps with your family, watching Rocky square off against Clubber Lang or Ivan Drago for the 27th time. But, seriously, there are several good reasons to just end this saga here. Among them:
1. Creed is a perfect sendoff for the character of Rocky. Even though Rocky Balboa was meant to be the character's farewell, I never liked that film as much as most people. Creed touches on similar themes — Rocky dealing with loss; Rocky finding ways to move forward with his life rather than just sitting around waiting for it to end — but does so in more compelling and poignant ways. It really does feel like Rocky's last great hurrah, that training Adonis and helping him be the person he's meant to be is the final heroic deed in a life well-lived. Sure, Rocky can go on being a mentor to the younger man up until his death, but I don't think we need to see that on screen as an audience. Creed's final scene, with the pair on the iconic steps, is as perfect a last shot as I could imagine the character Rocky appearing in. His cinematic life really should end there. At the same time, he plays such an important role in the film that moving forward with a Creed II that drops Rocky and focuses solely on Adonis would just feel weird. So it's no-win either way.
2. Repetition will set in fast. Honestly, it pretty much does already in this current movie. As I noted in my review of the film, there are only so many ways a boxing match can end, and the final fight in Creed carries a sense of déjà vu, as it ends exactly like the fight in the original Rocky, with Adonis losing in a split-decision but "going the distance" and proving he can overcome his personal demons and hang with the big boys. Honestly, that "I've seen this before" feeling deflated the end of the fight a bit for me, though it wasn't enough to really hurt the overall film, as the rest of it is so strong leading up to that point. But what happens next? Will Creed II just ape Rocky II with Adonis winning the light heavyweight title? Does Rocky die in Creed III? Will Adonis fight Ivan Drago's kid, Viktor, in Creed IV? What could they possibly do that we haven't seen already?! I have a real hard time figuring how anyone could keep this series feeling fresh, at least from the standpoint of the fights.
3. It's selfish to tie these artists down with this franchise. Writer/director Ryan Coogler had an idea: Why not tell the type of story he wants to tell, a story about a young black man struggling with his identity, but within the confines of the Rocky universe? It was a great idea that ended up being a great movie, one that followed on the heels of Coogler's even better debut film, Fruitvale Station. The fact is Coogler might be Hollywood's most talented black filmmaker, and I expect he has a lot more interesting things to say using his chosen medium. Do we really want to tie him down for years of his life making Creed sequels? I sure don't. Same goes for Michael B. Jordan, as gifted a young actor who exists right now. Even one more Creed movie could potentially pull these guys away from making something truly game-changing, and no one should want to risk that. I suppose you could carry on with Jordan and Stallone, along with a new writer and director. Hell, maybe even Stallone would want to put pen to paper again. But Creed seems like a personal story to me, one that Coogler poured part of his soul into. Someone else stepping in could easily produce a follow-up that feels like a pale imitation.
So, ultimately, let's just let this film be its own little stand-alone miracle. That Creed felt like its own unique and creative thing, rather than a blatant rehash or some kind of money-grabbing reboot, is a testament to all the talented people involved. But it's still a very thin line at play here, and Creed II could send everyone involved tumbling right over it.
