Neither Sylvester Stallone nor Ryan Coogler, who directed the first Creed movie, are going to be directing Creed 2, but things are looking good for the sequel.

Both Michael B. Jordan, who played the lead in the 2015 Rocky spin-off, and Sylvester Stallone will reprise their roles. They’ll be joined by Tessa Thompson (Thor: Ragnarok) who will return to the role of Bianca, a singer-songwriter who becomes Adonis Creed’s girlfriend.

Coogler and Stallone remain integral to the new movie as Coogler is expected to be an executive producer on the project, though a deal has yet to be finalised as he is currently completing post on Black Panther. Meanwhile the original screenplay is by Stallone and Cheo Hodari Coker (showrunner of Luke Cage).

Director Steven Caple Jr. has been handed the reins of the sequel, a decision reportedly made personally by Stallone and Jordan after a lengthy search. Jordan announced the news on Twitter:

 

“The character of Adonis Creed reflects this generation and its challenges,” said Stallone. “I believe it’s important for the director to also be a part of this generation like I was in mine, to make the story as relatable as possible.” He added, “We are extremely lucky to have the talented young filmmaker Steven Caple Jr. step up and accept the role of director. I am confident that he and Michael B. Jordan will hit it out of the park!”

Caple’s credits include his first feature The Land, which premiered at Sundance in 2016, and he recently wrote HBO’s Emmett Till project, produced by Will Smith and Jay-Z. This will be his first big feature – but this was also the case with Coogler for the first Creed film and he did a fantastic job.

Plot details about the sequel remain vague but Dolph Lundgren is reprising his character of Ivan Drago, who infamously killed Creed’s father Apollo in Rocky IV, which is exciting stuff.

 

Via Variety