Jonathan Majors' Creed III Antagonist Is A 'Pivotal' Person From Adonis' Past

The "Rocky" franchise is the closest we've ever gotten to a good live-action anime franchise. Really, when you think about it, it has every element of a good anime: an underdog protagonist you love to root for, a group of friends that support him and help him win through the power of friendship, training arcs, power-ups, special moves, and plenty of tournament arcs. While Rocky (and now Creed) may be the star of the franchise, it also follows the rules of anime by having memorable and sometimes cartoonish antagonists.

Indeed, as great as Rocky is, he is only as good as his opponents. From Apollo Creed to Clubber Lang to Ivan Drago, the "Rocky" franchise is full of memorable villains you love to hate. Sadly, "Creed" has been kind of lacking in the antagonist department. Adonis' first opponent, Ricky Conlan, was some random fighter who wasn't really interested in our hero, while "Creed II" antagonist Viktor Drago had more of a connection to the "Rocky" franchise and never fully, properly connected with Adonis.

That is all meant to change with "Creed III," which features the return of Michael B. Jordan as Adonis and serves as the actor's directorial debut. The film is aiming to showcase a far more personal fight than we've seen in this sequel franchise yet, with a villain that is pivotal to Adonis' past and present. It helps that none other than Jonathan Majors himself will play the villain, Damian "Dame" Anderson.

During a "Creed III" press conference attended by /Film, Michael B. Jordan talked about the importance of Jonathan Majors' antagonist, Damian:

"The character Damian you'll find out more about, but [he's] definitely a pivotal person and a pillar in Adonis's life that comes back around and needs to kind of get addressed. So there's that." 

As the first trailer for "Creed III" reveals, Damian is an old childhood friend of Adonis, who is just being released after a years-long prison sentence. Adonis' survivor guilt makes him want to help Damian, but he quickly becomes enraged and entitled, feeling owed for the life he missed out on. Eventually, he comes after Adonis himself in the ring.

This is a very interesting development for the "Creed" franchise. After the sequel introduced the son of the man who killed Adonis' father, it is good to know the franchise is taking it back to basics and focusing on Adonis' himself.

Jordan also praised Majors, calling him "extremely talented." 

"The world is finding out daily, how incredible this man is in the work that he does, [he's] finally getting the props that's due. And Jonathan was incredible, man. He showed up every day ready, ready to go to war, ready to work."

"Creed III" will be released March 3, 2023.