In order to pay off Creed III’s story setup for Amara’s future, Creed IV might have to make a winking tribute to the most infamous plot hole from Rocky V. In its first three installments, the Creed series has focused on Adonis “Donnie” Creed’s attempts to live up to the legacy of his late father, the world champion Apollo Creed. But Creed III has set up Donnie’s own successor: his daughter Amara. If Creed IV wants to follow up on this story setup, it’ll need to make some alterations to the franchise’s already complicated timeline.
One of the most poignant scenes in Creed III saw Amara visiting her dad at his boxing gym. She wanted a go on the punching bag to emulate her dad, so Donnie gave her some pointers on how to improve her stance and get the most power out of each punch. This touching scene seemed to pretty clearly telegraph a future for the franchise in which Amara will follow in Donnie’s footsteps and pursue a career as a boxer. But if Creed IV is going to continue that storyline, it’ll need to mangle the timeline much like Rocky V did.
Amara Should Be Much Older In Creed 4 Without A Time Jump
One of the most notorious plot holes in the Rocky franchise arrives at the beginning of Rocky V. Immediately after his fight in Russia at the end of Rocky IV, Rocky comes home and Rocky, Jr. is somehow much older than he was in Rocky IV. One of Creed IV’s best storytelling options is to continue the idea that Amara is going to become a boxer like her dad. But she’ll need to be at least in her mid-teens, if not late teens. If the sequel goes that route, they should also hint that the events are taking place immediately after those of Creed III.
With a baffling seven-year time jump, Dame’s complicated prison sentence, and a misplaced rematch with Ricky Conlan, Creed III has already messed up the series’ timeline. As it stands, even if Creed III takes place seven years after Creed II, Amara goes from being born to being nine years old between those movies. The only way to fix the timeline is to not fix it, but rather remind audiences that the Rocky franchise’s timeline has never made any sense with a timely throwback to Rocky V’s Rocky, Jr. storyline.
Maintaining The Creed Timeline Will Set The Sequel Too Far In The Future
The Creed comic book is already set 10 years after Creed III as it follows an older Amara as an amateur boxer. That sets the story in 2035. Creed will become a sci-fi series if it keeps going further into the future. Creed IV should just maintain the current timeline. It’s much easier for a production to keep a present-day setting than to imagine what the world might look like 12 years from now. Normally, the movie would just not mention what year it is, but if one minor bit of dialogue can imply that it’s still around our present, that will be enough of a nod to Rocky V.
