Quite often the best way to be remembered is to leave something behind that people can pick up, look at, and identify with the person that made it happen. At the moment it would appear that Michael B. Jordan wants to be the person that people will continue to talk about in years to come when it comes to his contributions on a movie set, and there’s nothing wrong with that, apart from the fact that people will fade along with memory. But what he’s left in terms of his movie performances will stick around for quite a while to come, and that’s nothing to sneeze at since Jordan has contributed a great deal to cinema. Creed 3 might be his chance to make an even bigger mark though since it would appear that he’s in talks to direct the third movie in his own franchise as well as star in it. The understanding was that Rocky’s time wasn’t exactly up, but his legacy was secure and it was now Adonis Creed’s time to shine, much as Sylvester Stallone would likely agree with since the character of Rocky is well past his prime and it’s likely time to hang up the gloves and let Jordan take over since the character’s fighting days should be all over at this time. Creed still has enough time left in his career to keep going, but one can imagine that after a while the injuries and the continued wear on his person are going to take their toll from the perspective of the story, much as they did with Rocky. Look at it this way, between Apollo, Clubber, and Drago, Rocky was lucky to be alive by the end of each fight since he took so much punishment.
With updated training methods and techniques, Creed might last a little longer, but after the beating he took from Drago’s son, it wouldn’t really matter how solid he was after healing up and training until he was ready, the continued damage that boxers are bound to take during the course of a match is going to keep adding on to the risks that will continue to mount for these individuals. The timeline for Creed 3 isn’t really known yet, and in fact, it’s hard to say if Rocky will even be a part of it this time around since it kind of feels as though the aging boxer might actually be better off going on his way to get to know his family again and spend more time with son and grandchild. But one thing that does feel evident is that Creed 3 will be another huge test of Adonis’ strength, durability, and integrity since if it does show him starting to get on in years it’s fair to say that he’ll have to think of his family, his legacy, and the possibility that he might need to start looking at an exit strategy that could keep his family safe and financially secure for the years to come. Obviously, he doesn’t have a family member like Paulie to make bad decisions, and his wife, played by Tessa Thompson, isn’t the type of person that makes rash, ill-advised decisions since she’s kept his character on the straight and narrow as much as she could.
But it does feel as though Adonis might need to consider just what kind of challenges he could possibly face after the defeat of Drago since that feels like the top of the ladder for his character, seeing how he was far tougher than anyone Adonis had faced to that point. Much like Rocky, it feels that Adonis is going to have to contemplate a life outside the ring, and for his directorial debut, this feels like a challenge to Jordan, who has apparently been wanting to work his way up to this position since he was 12 years old. His desire to understand every part of the process and how it all fits together is a big up that will no doubt help him since the desire to find out how everything works in tandem with everything else feels like the mark of someone that wants to learn, which is a great trait for any director to have. At this point, it’s all a matter of whether he can bring that enthusiasm to bear in a manner that will allow him to knock this movie out of the park if he does end up getting the shot. Acting in a movie and directing at the same time feels like a chore that would test anyone in a big way, but quite a few individuals have done it over the course of their careers, and it does feel that Jordan might be excited to see if he can add his name to the list of greats that have accomplished such a feat.
