“Creed III” Finds Its Antagonist In Jonathan Majors

Creed III is one of the most anticipated projects coming from Michael B. Jordan, who’s quickly becoming one of the most reliable actors in Hollywood. The threequel is notable because it will be the first to not feature Sylvester Stallone’s iconic Rocky Balboa. Moreover, it will also be directed by Jordan himself, from a story by original helmer Ryan Coogler.

And while details on what fans can expect of the follow-up are still scant, a new casting announcement has come through. According to Deadline, actor Jonathan Majors is set to play the main antagonist of the film, though it’s not quite official yet and negotiations are still taking place.

Majors is riding high after a star-making turn in HBO’s critically acclaimed Lovecraft Country. The actor was also recently featured in the films The Last Black Man in San Francisco and the Spike Lee-directed Da 5 Bloods for Netflix. He’ll also soon be making the leap into a superhero costume as he was cast to play the villain Kang the Conqueror in the upcoming MCU project, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

To say that Jonathan Majors’ star is on the rise is something of an understatement and one thing that’s clear is that he is a major get for Creed III. How his character will be incorporated into the franchise hasn’t been revealed, but the first two sequels were successful largely because the were semi-reboots of the Rocky films, with the first mirroring the original and the second taking inspiration from the fourth Rocky film.

If this is still going to be the case remains to be seen, though if the creative team behind Creed III is going to go back to the Rocky source material, a logical place to look would be Rocky III, which features Mr. T as a cocky upstart looking for his own chance, and this does seem like a perfect role for Majors to take on. Whatever the case, fans have a long wait as Creed III is currently targeting a November 23rd, 2022 release.