KNOCKOUTS!

The second instalment of Creed packs a serious punch

Michael B. Jordan is doing that thing where he makes his pecs pulse up and down, and Tessa Thompson is cracking up. The actors convened to discuss reprising their roles as Adonis Creed and Bianca Taylor in Creed II (out now). They display an easy rapport that manifests as attentiveness, affirmation and ribbing, as well as friendly hand-holding, which the co-stars maintain throughout the chat. That chemistry was evident on screen in 2015’s Creed, the blockbuster spin-off from the Rocky franchise, which pivoted the point of view from Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa to that of fiery boxer Adonis, son of Rocky’s rival-turned BFF Apollo Creed. (Stallone, who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and won the Golden Globe for Creed, co-wrote the sequel screenplay and returns as the ageing but still vital trainer Balboa.)

Creed II takes some of its cues from 1985’s Rocky IV, during which Apollo was killed in the ring by Soviet superfighter Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) in what was supposed to be a friendly, publicity-building exhibition match. The new film also has echoes of 1979’s Rocky II, with a deepening romantic relationship and an expanding family. But the new branch of the franchise resolutely retains its own contemporary flavour, from the music to the attitude. While the younger Creed’s preparation for and fight with Viktor “son of Ivan” Drago (played by man-mountain Florian Munteanu) is given ample screen time, the dramatic stakes are also raised outside of the ring. “It felt good to collaborate with two people who knew what I was trying to do but also were in this world before,” says director Steven Caple Jr, who was handed the reins to the sequel by Creed director Ryan Coogler. “I had a lot of freedom to play with them because they already knew their characters.”

EW chatted with Jordan, 31, and Thompson, 35, about rising up, straight to the top, and making sure their voices are heard.

You must have been excited to get back into this world. Did you go back and watch Rocky IV to brush up on the Drago drama? MICHAEL B. JORDAN

Yeah, Rocky IV is one of my favourites, so I was familiar with the whole beef that they had. Just getting back into that definitely got me amped up to play this part. TESSA THOMPSON You know what I did go back and watch was Rocky II, just to get a sense of what they did with [Rocky’s wife] Adrian in that film, and how those characters started their family and how their relationship transitioned from the first [film] to the second. I thought there was an opportunity to do something nice with ours in terms of an homage to that.

And there’s much more meat to your character this time, Tessa.

THOMPSON Yes, I think for me, more important than the actual page space is just that it felt like the character was developing. What we were able to do in the first Creed was create a character that felt very singular, a woman that felt like she had her own agency, that felt like she had a rich enough inner life that she could occupy her own narrative entirely. We were trying not to be precious, but I wanted to continue that in this next part of the journey. We have grown since we made the first film, and at a certain point you don’t want to be just a cog in something moving, you want to be instrumental to the organism of it. Mike is producing on this one. We’ve always had skin in the game, but we’re both hitting a point in our careers where we want to really… JORDAN … to be involved in the process.

There’s something quietly revolutionary about these movies: you’ve taken a globally beloved, mass-appeal franchise and transitioned to a black protagonist without making a big deal about that. But you’ve also added touches that will resonate specifically with black audiences. I’m thinking of the moment in the first film when Creed is helping Bianca with her hair, or in the new film when he’s giving Rocky a hard time about his baby-name suggestions. Was that intentional?

JORDAN Yes. One-thousand per cent intentional. As broad as we want it to be and as accessible to everybody, we try to find moments to make it very specific for us. We deserve that. You know, what black love would be like, what are the things that we would be doing? Like, if she needed help taking out her hair, that’s what I would do. That’s what I did for my sister, my mother, what I would do

for my girlfriend, wife. We tried to do it as much as we could. THOMPSON For me, it felt very powerful in the first Creed to go on those steps in Philly and to be promoting this movie that, in my estimation, is black as hell. And the folks that were engaging were all sorts of people. To me, that does a tremendous amount to humanise our experience.

You’ve had interesting career parallels. You both first gained notice on critically acclaimed television series – Michael on

The Wire and Tessa on Veronica Mars – and then steadily built toward this peak by balancing provocative indie projects like Fruitvale Station and Dear White People with the giant Marvel movies Black Panther and Thor: Ragnarok…

JORDAN It’s crazy. We’re adulting now! [ Laughs] We sit among each other like, “Yo, ain’t it crazy how we’re adults now? Like, how weird is this?” THOMPSON Except our characters are a skosh ahead of us in terms of adulting. ’Cause they’re actually, like, parents. They’re really committing to each other. [ Laughs]

Was that mix of big and small a specific career choice?

JORDAN Intentional. In the beginning, I always wanted to do independent films. I felt like that was gonna be my calling card to the industry – “Oh, this guy can connect, he can lead a movie.” Even to myself, I just wanted to know if I could carry a film, back when we did Fruitvale. And then, afterwards, you start to think about the bigger picture: How do you become a leading man? How do you become international? And for me, it’s always been bigger project, smaller project, remind people why you’re here – become a household name and then always go back to the smaller films, the heartfelt projects with a message. It’s a good balance. THOMPSON [ Laughs] Says the mini mogul. I make fun of him because I admire it. And that sort of forward thinking and ownership over destiny and legacy. [To Jordan] It’s something I’m inspired by in you. I never thought about making big movies because I just couldn’t see myself inside of them. That’s been broken open, but I couldn’t imagine myself inside of a huge franchise because, with the exception of a few women of colour, it just didn’t exist. And then, it was with some level of trepidation that I took on Thor. I thought of Creed— because it wasn’t a franchise at the time—as an indie film. I was working with two indie filmmakers, Ryan [Coogler] and Michael. So that’s been the thing for me:

How do you marry something that does give people access to you in a global space but also do things that you care about that are rooted in something? Because to me, that’s the future. I really love going in between each.

Have you taken a moment to soak up the success of the past couple of years?

THOMPSON To be honest, I feel a great amount of gratitude for having made the first Creed because I think it did a lot for us. Not just in terms of other jobs. I mean, it’s no surprise that we went on to do Marvel movies; I know that [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige and those guys loved that film, so I think it probably put us on certain people’s radars. But then also in terms of the process of getting to make a movie that you work so hard on and you’re incredibly proud of and the experience of making it with collaborators that understand you. That you can push each other – that, to me, sets a bar in a new way. So, after making that movie, I had a real idea of the kinds of films that I wanted to make. And also make something that could be for everyone but also specific, that expands our ideas of the humanity of all people on a huge scale.

It may sound corny, but a lot of people who have loved the Rocky movies and now love the Creed movies find them very inspirational when they are going through tough times. Have fans relayed those stories to you?

JORDAN Yes. It’s not corny at all. I think the power of cinema and movies and storytelling – that’s what it’s for, it’s for healing, it’s for inspiration. It’s to help people dream, to get over hard times, as an escape from their reality. The Rocky films, they did that. If the Creed franchise can have that same effect, I think we’ve done our job. I’ve had kids and older adults – men, women – come up to me and say, “You motivated me to get up in the morning and go to the gym”, “You motivated me to stick to this diet.” So, yeah, I’ve experienced that, for sure. It’s incredible. THOMPSON I think something that’s really inspiring about the film too is the central idea of “Who’s in your corner?” And the power of family and community. To think of friends and family – whether it’s related by blood or your chosen family – going to see the film around the time when we’re all together [at the holidays] is really exciting. I know this does sound cheesy, but I’m going to own it. I don’t care, because I think it’s really important.

Both of you have action figures of your characters Killmonger and Valkyrie. Tell the truth, have you played with your toys?

JORDAN Oh, yes. Yes. THOMPSON Mmhmm. I have mine in my kitchen above the sink. I also have some other [action figures] of women friends of mine. JORDAN It’s a posse sitting around waiting for you. THOMPSON Yeah, I have Lupita [Nyong’o’s character from Black Panther] … Evan Rachel Wood from Westworld. There’s, like, a funny little mashup of women just chilling there when I wash the dishes. [ To Jordan] I don’t have Killmonger, I’m so sorry. Michael, do you have Valkyrie? JORDAN I don’t. I don’t have a lot, though. I’ll get it. THOMPSON [ With a smile] I’ll give it to you. I have an extra one.