10 Reasons Creed 4 Bringing Back Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Would Be A Mistake

Creed 4 is on the way, and while some viewers want Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky to return in the upcoming film, brining him back would be a huge mistake. Sylvester Stallone has been the face of the Rocky franchise since the very beginning, with his exclusion from Creed III being a huge deal. Because of this, there is a lot of speculation regarding whether he will be absent from Creed 4 as well, but bringing him back could cause several unintended consequences for the franchise.

Sylvester Stallone was the star of the original Rocky, with him playing the titular Italian Stallion and defining the franchise as one of the most iconic in cinema history. Stallone then returned as Balboa in every Rocky sequel as well as the first two Creed spinoffs, with him being expected to return in Creed III. However, Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky wasn’t in Creed III due to some behind-the-scenes disagreements, and while it is possible that he could return in Creed 4, he really shouldn’t.

10

Creed II Already Gave Rocky A Great Ending

One of the biggest reasons that Rocky shouldn’t return in Creed 4 is that Creed II already gave him a perfect ending, and bringing him back again would ruin it. In the Creed movies, Rocky has grown apart from his son Robert, with the two not having spoken in years. However, Rocky decides to travel to Canada and see Robert again at the end of Creed II, with him meeting his grandchild for the first time.

Rocky reuniting with Robert is the perfect way to conclude Rocky’s character arc, and bringing him back in Creed 4 would get rid of this beautiful ending. Although Rocky is a boxer, Rocky’s connection to his loved ones has been the heart of the franchise since the original movie. Thus, having him leave Robert to see Adonis again would hurt this message, with it wasting the perfect ending that was used back in 2018 when Creed II was released.

9

Creed 4 Would Have To Deal With The Rocky Jr. Question

Bringing Rocky back in Creed 4 means that the upcoming film wouldn’t just destroy Rocky’s perfect ending, but it would also destroy the perfect ending of Robert, aka Rocky Jr. For Rocky to return, one of two paths would have to be taken, both of which are weird for Robert’s character arc. The first is to have Rocky’s son appear in Creed 4, with him traveling to see Adonis alongside his father. Since he moved to Canada to escape his father’s shadow, this would be a weird choice for Robert, meaning that it shouldn’t happen.

The other option is for Rocky to leave Robert in Canada, which is also a terrible idea. While Rocky was a father figure to Adonis, he is the literal father of Robert and the grandfather of Robert’s child. Leaving them would be uncharacteristic for Rocky, hurting all of their character arcs at once.

8

Rocky’s Return Would Risk Overshadowing Creed 4’s Story Now

Having Rocky return in the upcoming sequel would also be a problem for the story of Adonis Creed, as it would risk overshadowing Creed 4‘s story if his return were to happen now. Although Adonis Creed is a fantastic character deserving of his own stories, Rocky Balboa is still the most iconic part of the franchise. Thus, Sylvester Stallone’s Creed 4 return would generate a lot of hype, possibly to the detriment of Creed 4‘s original story.

Rocky Balboa would take up a lot of screentime, with him taking away from Adonis’ story. Creed III showed that Adonis had finally gained independence from Rocky’s legacy, and bringing Rocky back would hurt this idea, as it would mean that Rocky and Creed both have to share the spotlight once again. Thus, this would hurt Creed 4.

7

Creed III Ignored The Obvious Reason To Bring Rocky Back

Bringing back Rocky in Creed 4 would also create a huge problem for Creed III, creating a plot hole due to it ignoring the obvious reason to bring Rocky back. Adonis’ mom dies in Creed III, with her death being one of the most tragic moments in the Creed saga so far. It is a major turning point for Adonis, Bianca, Amara, and the rest of the cast, with there being one notable exception: Rocky.

Rocky was basically a family member to Apollo and Adonis, so it was really weird that he wasn’t at the funeral of Mary Anne Creed. If he were to reappear in Creed 4, Rocky would have to explain why he didn’t come to Mary Anne’s funeral, which would be an incredibly awkward moment for everyone. It would be a rough moment for Rocky to explain missing the funeral, so its better to not bring Rocky back at all.

6

Creed’s Location Change Makes It Harder To Bring Back Rocky

One other aspect of Creed III makes it much harder to bring back Rocky, with this being the franchise’s big location change. Creed III moves Adonis and his family from Philadelphia, where every other Rocky movie has been set, all the was to Los Angeles, California. This means that many of the iconic characters and landmarks of the Rocky franchise didn’t appear in Creed III, with this having an impact on Rocky’s return.

If Adonis were still in Philadelphia, it would be easier for Rocky to return, as his appearance in Creed 4 could just be explained away as Balboa visiting his hometown. However, having Creed 4 set in L.A. means that Rocky would really only visit the city to see Adonis, putting more restrictions on the type of story that Creed 4 could tell with Rocky.

5

Rocky’s Creed 4 Return Would Make Creed III The Black Sheep Of The Franchise

Having Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa return in Creed 4 would also retroactively hurt Creed III, something that the franchise really doesn’t want to do. Having Rocky appear in Creed 4 would mean that Creed III is the only Rocky movie to not feature Rocky, with this label overshadowing all of the good that the third Creed movie did.

Creed III is one of the most critically-acclaimed films in the franchise, so giving this uniquely negative label to the film could be a bad thing. It would be impossible to ignore Rocky’s absence if he simply comes back in the next Creed film. However, it would be much easier if Creed III were the first of many films to be missing Rocky, with this being an aspect of the behind-the-scenes disagreements that the Rocky franchise simply can’t ignore.

4

Other Creed Characters Would Have To Be Sidelined To Make Room For Rocky

Another potential problem with Rocky’s return would be that Creed 4 would have to make room for him, meanign that other Creed characters would probably have to be sidelined. Stories can only have a limited amount of beats due to pacing and runtimes, meaning that having Rocky included in the fourth film would cause other potential storylines to be cut out. This isn’t what needs to happen for Creed 4, as it would be better for the franchise to move in the opposite direction and gain more independence from Rocky.

For example, the Creed movies have historically sidelined Bianca, something that Creed III attempted to fix. It is possible that Creed 4 would choose to focus on Adonis and Rocky’s dynamic in favor of Adonis and Bianca’s, recreating the problem that was originally solved by Rocky being taken out of the picture.

3

Rocky Wouldn’t Have Much To Do In Creed 4’s Story

Another problem with Rocky Balboa’s return in the upcoming sequel is that Rocky wouldn’t have much to do in Creed 4‘s story. Adonis no longer needs a trainer, as he has one of his own and has retired from boxing. Adonis is training Amara himself, and Rocky is too old to box now, meaning that he wouldn’t have much impact on the main story of Creed 4.

Creed also doesn’t feature a lot of returning Rocky characters anymore, meaning that Rocky wouldn’t even get to interact with old friends of foes. Unless the writers can think of something really interesting for Rocky to do, his appearance in Creed IV would almost feel like an obligation, with there not being any reason for him to come back once again after his perfect ending in Creed II.

2

Creed Already Got A Different Trainer After Rocky’s Departure

Rocky has served the role of Adonis’ trainer in the Creed movies, with this being his main impact on Adonis throughout the first two films. However, Adonis got a different trainer in Creed III after Sylvester Stallone’s departure from the franchise, negating the need for Rocky to continue this role. Plus, Adonis is retired now, further making Rocky’s former Creed role pointless.

Although Little Duke was underused up until Creed III, his bigger role was much appreciated by fans. Having Rocky come back would most likely downplay the role of Little Duke as Adonis’ new trainer, hurting his character. The collateral damage of Rocky’s return just isn’t worth it, which is why he shouldn’t return in Creed 4.

1

Rocky’s Return Means That Fans Would Expect More Franchise Character Comebacks

If Rocky Balboa does return in Creed 4, then that would open the floodgates for all kinds of other Rocky characters to return, causing fans to wonder why other classic actors aren’t returning alongside Stallone. Creed II saw the return of Ivan Drago to the franchise, with many fans being disappointed that Creed III didn’t see the return of another classic villain like Clubber Lang.

As has been mentioned several times already, the best future for the Creed franchise is further establishing its independence from the Rocky movies, not getting closer to them. This allows Adonis and the original characters to flourish without being anchored to decades-old movies. Thus, setting the expectation that other Rocky characters will return is a bad move, with Creed 4‘s best plan being to further sever ties from Rocky – including Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa himself.