Apollo Creed may get another round in the ring. As reported by People Magazine, actor Carl Weathers said he would return as the iconic boxer for a sequel to last November’s Creed “in a heartbeat.”
“If I could get a role as cool at this point as Rocky’s was then yeah, in a heartbeat I’d be back in,” Weathers told reporters at the Los Angeles screening of Keifer Sutherland’s Forsaken.
“It’s always is about the role. Just to say to be Apollo Creed again, I don’t think that’s enough for any actor,” the actor, 68, said. “You want to see what the character’s about at this particular point.”
It would certainly be cool to see Apollo back, especially following the success of Creed, the Ryan Coogler directed film about his son Adonis, but there’s one problem with a potential return: His character died at the hands of Ivan Drago in Rocky IV.
Now there are some ways to work around that, whether it’s in a flashback or having Apollo be resurrected in some way. Stallone himself admitted back in January, that a possible Creed sequel could feature a surprise comeback from Weathers.
“One version of the story would take place in the past, which would mean — in a surprise that would energize the franchise’s fans — bringing back Carl Weathers to play Apollo Creed, who died in 1985’s ‘Rocky IV.’ ‘Ryan has some ideas of going forward and backward and actually seeing Rocky and Apollo together,’ Stallone revealed. ‘Think of ‘The Godfather 2.’ That’s what he was thinking of, which was kind of ambitious.’ Stallone said he’d recently bumped into Weathers, who looked like he was still in good shape. “I can’t believe I got in the ring with him,” he says. ‘Even if it was play fighting.’”
This sounds like fan service more than proper storytelling. Creed thrived because it didn’t just cater to nostalgia and told its own story, which was why the film was so refreshing and such a hit. There’s no need to throw unnecessary and complicated explanations to earn points with those who love the previous Rocky films. Otherwise, Stallone has learned nothing from running his hit franchise into the ground before it was revived by another writer and director.
