Creed 3 Doesn’t Need To Give Rocky An Ending – Rocky Balboa Already Did

Although Rocky reportedly won’t be returning for Creed III, the spin-off franchise doesn’t need to end the Italian Stallion’s story, because Rocky Balboa already did so back in 2006. After the huge success of Rocky in 1976, Sylvester Stallone’s iconic movie boxer went on to have five more cinematic adventures. Over the course of the Rocky movies, the titular character underwent some significant development: Rocky II saw him become a father, Rocky III saw him embrace his former rival as a friend after losing his long-time trainer. Rocky IV saw him lose his best friend, and Rocky V saw Rocky’s own career stall, charting a dramatic arc that has already reached its conclusion.

Rocky Balboa picked up the boxer’s story years later, as he takes one last big fight: an exhibition against the heavyweight champion, despite the fact that he’s 60 years old. The heartfelt emotion poured into the movie makes it one of the franchise’s most popular, and it acted as a farewell to Rocky for Stallone. However, the Creed spin-off franchise brought Stallone back, albeit as a secondary character. The franchise’s new protagonist, Adonis Creed – the illegitimate son of Rocky’s late rival-turned-friend Apollo – enlists Balboa’s help as a trainer, with the pair building a strong familial bond in the process. Stallone reprised the role for the 2018 sequel, Creed 2.

Despite Rocky’s important role in the Creed movies, Stallone has said that he will not appear in Creed III, as he doesn’t believe there to be a story for the character in the sequel. However, Creed 2 didn’t actually give Rocky a definitive send-off, which raises the question of how exactly Creed 3 will explain Rocky’s absence. The problem is actually a non-starter, though, because Rocky has already been given his perfect ending: Rocky Balboa tied up practically every loose end for the character. In fact, the Creed movies don’t even really need Rocky Balboa, and so Creed III shouldn’t need to explain his absence at all.

Rocky Balboa Tied Up Rocky’s Loose Ends

Rocky Balboa marked Stallone’s third decade as the Rocky franchise’s protagonist, and it also neatly wrapped up the fighter’s story. An emotionally-driven story of the boxer’s unlikely comeback, Rocky Balboa saw the aging fighter take to the ring one final time in order to prove something to himself. In many ways, Rocky Balboa hearkened back to the franchise’s first film, with Rocky proving one final time that he was capable of shocking the world.

Those narrative parallels served to bring the Rocky franchise full circle, delivering a neat and satisfying conclusion to the titular boxer’s arc. The first and last outings of the Italian Stallion are Stallone’s favorite Rocky movies, and his reasoning is sound: they are by far the franchise’s hardest-hitting stories. Rocky Balboa explores the idea of Rocky’s loneliness as his loved ones begin to pass away – most notably his wife Adrian – and it also sets itself up throughout as Rocky’s final outing. Rocky Balboa‘s triumphant ending served as the perfect place to leave Balboa’s story, bringing everything full circle and seemingly closing the book on the fictional fighter’s career.

Creed Didn’t Add Much To Rocky’s Story

Nine years after Rocky Balboa, Creed breathed new life into the franchise with a new protagonist. Following Apollo Creed’s illegitimate son as he embarks upon his own journey towards the heights of professional boxing, Creed proved to be a significant success. Rocky‘s Creed reboot worked because it shifted focus away from Balboa, telling a new story with enough links to the original movies that it felt both like a fresh start and a continuation. However, with Rocky playing a supporting role, Creed didn’t really add a great deal to the character’s overall story.

Creed does see Rocky grapple with the concept of his own mortality, but this isn’t entirely new territory for the franchise. Both Rocky V and Rocky Balboa touched on the idea that Rocky’s style of fighting had taken an enormous toll on his physical health, and that subtly undermined his arc in Creed. The reboot was designed to be something of a passing of the torch, and it did just that: Creed‘s Rocky isn’t the fighter he once was, and his story was already over – the fact that Rocky’s story has already been told was ultimately what made Creed work.

Creed 2 Gave Rocky His Happy Ending

The ending of Creed II may be the last time that Stallone appears as Rocky Balboa, and if so, it offered the character an understated but fitting end. The franchise has largely focused on the highs and lows of Rocky’s career – first as a boxer and then as a trainer – but the Creed movies largely shied away from exploring Balboa’s family life. With Rocky being a widower for a number of years prior to Creed and his son having moved away, there was little familial drama for the spin-offs to explore.

Even so, Creed II managed to offer one small moment in its final scenes that gave Rocky the happy ending he deserved. After Adonis Creed recorded a win over Viktor Drago, Rocky opts not to celebrate with his fighter, sitting back and telling him: “it’s your time”. After this, Rocky is seen reuniting with his son and meeting his grandson for the first time, promising that the Italian Stallion’s twilight years will be spent happily in the company of his family.

Why The Creed Franchise Needs To Forget About Rocky

The Creed franchise has so far made Rocky a key supporting character, but it would actually be better for the spin-offs to move on from him entirely in future installments. As Rocky Balboa gave him a definitive ending, the first two Creed movies could be seen as Rocky’s epilogue, and Creed II‘s final scene offered one final touching moment for the character. With no Rocky Balboa in Creed 3, there’s a clear opportunity for the franchise to move on from the character.

Though it may seem odd, it’s clear that the Rocky franchise has outgrown its original protagonist. Michael B. Jordan’s Adonis Creed is a worthy successor to the franchise, and with Rocky’s blessing on-screen and Stallone’s off-screen, it would seem that he’s in line to fully replace the Italian Stallion. Moving out from Rocky’s shadow is important for the Creed movies, because without moving on from the character of Rocky Balboa, they can never stand entirely on their own merit. Forgetting about Rocky and simply letting him enjoy his happy ending is something that’s important for the continued success of the Creed franchise, and it seems that Creed 3 is already set to break its Balboa copycat trend. As Rocky’s real ending came in Rocky Balboa, there’s no need for Creed III to even properly address his absence.