While Adonis’ daughter, Amara, may seem like a logical replacement for Donnie in Creed 4, another character from the franchise fits the bill even better. Despite borrowing many story elements from the original Rocky movies, the Creed films have created a distinct identity for themselves by bringing something new with each installment. For instance, the first Creed movie focused on Adonis’ journey toward following his father’s footsteps and finding his own identity as a fighter, while the second was more about his pursuit of seeking revenge for his father’s death and cementing his family’s legacy.
The third one marked the return of his childhood friend, Dame, forcing him to confront his traumatic past and fix his relationship with his family. Since each Creed movie has been different from the rest, Creed 4 must continue this trend and adopt a unique storyline. To achieve this, Creed 4 cannot feature Amara as Adonis’ replacement, even though Creed 3 hinted that Amara could be the next family member to step inside the boxing ring. Instead, it must introduce someone else as its main character to be as good and original as its predecessors.
Creed 4’s Perfect Protagonist Is Artemis, Donnie’s Sister
The Rocky franchise has previously established that apart from Adonis, Apollo Creed had two other kids: a daughter and a son. While the Creed movies have not delved into their story arcs, and Adonis rarely talks about them, the Creed comics have shown how they, too, are a part of the boxing world. As the comics reveal, the daughter, Artemis, is a former three-time IWBF Champion and has even won by knockout 49 times, which proves that she inherited her father’s boxing talent like Adonis. Similar to Donnie, her name, too, is grounded in Greek mythology, referencing the Goddess of the Hunt.
She was also known to be as vicious and untamed in the ring as her brother and even lived up to her name by hunting down her opponents with each jab. However, as the movies suggest, she and Adonis have not been on good terms despite growing up in the same home during their childhood. The comics introduce her to the Creed franchise by showing how Adonis’ daughter, Amara, approaches her out of the blue and asks her to become her boxing coach. Given how the Creed movies have always been more about family dynamics and drama, Artemis’ complex relationship with her brother makes her the perfect protagonist for Creed 4.
Why Artemis Is A Better Hero For Creed 4 Than Amara
While it would be interesting to see how Amara would carry the Creed family legacy forward by dipping her feet into the world of boxing, her arc would offer nothing new. Her father, Adonis, ended his career on a high note in Creed 3, leaving no room for her to have Adonis’ initial hunger to restore Apollo’s legacy. With her as the protagonist, Creed 4 can still adopt the typical underdog narrative and walk viewers through the journey of another boxer making a name for herself. However, that would pale compared to the innovative storylines the recent Creed movies have adopted. In contrast, featuring Artemis as the lead would create some entertaining family drama since there is already some animosity between Adonis and Artemis. In the comics, Adonis and Artemis join forces and train Amara together when their brother, Alexander, announces himself as Amara’s rival’s manager. Given that Amara’s boxing career is the narrative thread that connects the three siblings’ storylines, she will still be essential to Creed 4‘s story. However, since the Creed movie franchise’s primary theme has always been about family, the complex sibling rivalry between the Creed siblings would drive its narrative, making Artemis a better hero for the sequel movie.
Donnie & Artemis Training Amara In Creed 4 Keeps The Promise Rocky Broke
In the Rocky movies, Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa kept breaking his promise of retiring from boxing. While his indecisiveness towards hanging his boots portrayed how obsessed he was with the sport, his return always proved to be a risky endeavor, given how dangerous boxing can be. Since Donnie has a lot to lose in the Creed movies, he should not tread the same path as his former coach and stay in retirement. By adding Artemis to the mix, Creed 4 can continue revolving its family drama around Donnie’s past without breaking his retirement promise.
As Amara carries the family’s boxing legacy forward, Creed 4 can portray how Donnie and Artemis struggle to fix their own past issues to fight against a common enemy: their brother, Alexander. Since the previous Creed movies have also focused on the perspectives of their villains and justified why they are fighting against Donnie, Creed 4 could highlight why Alexander is so deadset upon managing a fighter who could crumble his own family’s legacy. With Artemis and Adonis as its protagonists and Alexander as the villain, Creed 4 can explore a wide array of fresh boxing-centric narratives that have not been featured in the franchise before.
