We all have childhood trauma that affects us as we grow older
Michael B. Jordan both stars and directs Creed III, which sees the boxing legend come face to face with his past... in and out of the ring...
WHEN a third chapter in the Creed franchise was floated, Michael B. Jordan knew he had to step up and make his mark.
Having thrilled fans since 2015, there was no question the Black Panther Star would reprise his starring role as boxer Adonis “Donnie” Creed; but now he had the vision to steer the ship too. Making Creed III his directorial debut.
For those in need of a recap, the hit sports drama film – a spin-off of the Rocky movie franchise – began with Adonis who, trained by Rocky Balboa himself (played by Sylvester Stallone), shocked the world by winning the heavyweight title once held by his own father Apollo Creed.
In the years – and sequel – that followed, Adonis defeated opponents such as Viktor Drago and Danny “Stuntman” Wheeler before more recently hanging his gloves up to run the Delphi Boxing Academy.
Fast forward to today and its latest outing is set to offer up a fresh perspective – “it’s an origin story, a sequel, and a trilogy all in one,” teases Michael, 36, who also serves as a producer on the film.
“I had a clear vision of where I wanted the Creed family to go,” he explains. “The challenge of directing helped motivate me – I wanted to see if I had what it takes to act in and direct something that had been kicking around in my head for a long time.
“[The film] is personal to me and, thankfully, all those things added up to the perfect situation.”
This instalment finds Donnie and his wife Bianca (portrayed again by Tessa Thompson) at the dawn of a new era, with Bianca’s successful music career moving into producing and their young daughter, Amara (Mila Davis-Kent), eager to learn boxing from her father.
Life is good. That is until childhood friend and former boxing prodigy Damian “Dame” (played by Jonathan Majors) resurfaces after a long sentence in prison, more eager than ever to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring.
The face-off between the former friends is more than just a fight. For to settle the score, Donnie must put his future on the line to battle a fighter who has nothing to lose.
“When people see the film, they’ll see that this is actually two people who once loved each other, seemingly trying to reconnect, but one overplays the hand,” offers Jonathan, 33, who describes working opposite Michael as “life-changing”.
“Looking back at their history, because of the society they were in, because of the actions that they took, Dame ended up having to deal with the penal system and go to prison. But while in there, he held onto the brotherly love between him and Donnie,” adds the Lovecraft Country star.
“What had kept them both afloat when they were in the midst of poverty, of foster care, of the streets, was that dream they shared of boxing; that was their ticket.”
“The film shows the different roads, relationships and interactions of two men that made different choices, lived different lives and found themselves in the same ring,” Michael concurs.
“We’ve seen Adonis at a young age in the earlier films, but we never had the chance to really see how he was in and out of juvie [juvenile detention], what really shaped him to be the Adonis we know.”
He adds: “I was excited to see Adonis through to wherever he needed to go next. How does he stay hungry? How does he find motivation now? The answer was, through a reminder about who he was before fame. As an actor and a director, that’s what I was most interested in exploring.”
Again, Bianca is by Adonis’ side, providing strength and encouragement as both wife, and mother to their young daughter, while at the same time thriving in her own career.
“I just love playing this character so much,” Tessa, 39, enthuses.
As for being on-screen parents, “It’s so much fun! We got to work with the incredible Mila. She’s so tremendous and so fearless, and I just feel very proud to have been a part of her debut because she’s such a singular talent,” the Thor star says, having learned sign language to be able to communicate with the deaf nine-year-old actress.
“There’s so much conversation around representation and inclusion in film, and I think being able to unpack that bias, especially in the context of a studio movie, in a sports film, is really radical and rarefied.”
As well as representing the deaf community, Michael explores themes such as toxic masculinity, childhood trauma and the treatment of black youth in America.
“We’re in adulthood now, but we were part of black youth. And I think we are role models for black youth, at this point,” Jonathan says, gesturing at himself and Michael.
“I’ve not seen a picture that explores it in this way, the flashbacks, what you do to that young child and, in adulthood, how they turn out. It’s an exploration of that – one goes this way, one goes that way.”
“Universally, we all have some type of childhood trauma that affects us as we grow older,” Michael mirrors. “And it’s something that I wanted Adonis to deal with.
“In the form of childhood trauma, it was a shared experience between these two characters. So it’s important to not have Damian be an evil moustache-twirling villain that you don’t have any empathy for because there’s reasons why he is the way that he is,” he muses.
“And then you also have Adonis, nature versus nurture in a lot of different ways,” he compares. “I felt lucky to be able to touch on a lot of those things without making either one of them the focus of the entire film.
“And as the black role models that we are today, now being adults and setting those examples, we have a movie that that can represent all of those things and in a way that sparks healthy debate.”
Would he direct again?
“The acting-directing bit is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, the most challenging, but it was a transformative experience,” he concludes.
“It’s a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to doing it again.”
I had a clear vision of where I wanted the Creed family to go...
Michael B. Jordan
■ Creed III is in cinemas now