"Creed" Breathes New Life Into the Rocky Series

by Ran Britt

Creed passes the Ran test with flying colors: there are no African-American sidekicks; no black criminals; no black "clowns" mugging for the camera; the black people aren't all uneducated; and the black guy isn't the first, or only, one to get killed (Actually, nobody dies in this movie. The black guy, who was the only one to get killed in a previous Rocky movie -- Rocky IV -- is mentioned quite often, however). And yet, the film -- a big-budget, mainstream Hollywood film -- is filled with African-Americans. 

Rocky, Rocky II, Rocky V and Rocky Balboa all showcase the blue-collar and poor side of Philly -- but mostly Italian Philly. Creed features -- even parades -- African-American Philadelphia for the first time. But Creed's most significant departure from the rest of the series is something that shouldn't be such a big shift after all. The city is 44.1% African-American and the only black guys we've seen in the franchise up to this point are out-of-towners: Apollo Creed, his family and his team; Clubber Lang; Mason Dixon and his entourage; George Washington Duke; and Union Cane. For fuck's sake.

The black guy mentioned earlier, who was killed in Rocky IV, is former undefeated world heavyweight champion boxer Apollo Creed. And he practically haunts this film. It's even named after him. But it's his son Adonis' story and how he copes with having a legendary father. The previous film, Rocky Balboa, touched on Rocky's son Robert's struggle to live in his famous father's shadow as well and its revealed in this movie that he surrendered to the pressure and moved, not only out of Philly, but out of the country. Rocky tells Adonis that Robert, Jr. now lives in Canada. Adonis however, takes the challenge head-on. He not only takes up his father's profession, he moves from Los Angeles to Philadelphia in order to solicit the Italian Stallion's training expertise. 
And in turn, when Rocky needs someone to lean on, it is Adonis, and not his only son, who supports him.

For the first time, Sylvester Stallone plays a supporting role in a Rocky movie -- and he was richly rewarded for it. He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and won a Golden Globe for the same category. Creed's release date, November 25, 2015, marks the fortieth anniversary of the date of the first scene in the original Rocky. How's that for coming full circle?