Creed 2: All The Rocky Series Easter Eggs And References
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The first Rocky movie was released in 1978. Written and directed by Sylvester Stallone and made for $1 million, the film about a Philadelphia boxer with a lot of heart and not much else won Best Picture at the Oscars. It launched seven sequels, each one expanding on the central premise.
The films Creed and Creed II, starring Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Creed, Apollo Creed's son, have moved the Rocky franchise into cinematic universe territory. This story now spans three generations of characters, each one reliving and reframing the traumas and struggles of the prior one.
There will almost certainly be a Creed III, and maybe even a Creed IV and beyond. And 15 years from now, could there possibly be a third chapter to this franchise starring Creed's daughter, or Rocky's grandson? Could Michael B. Jordan become the aging trainer? Absolutely. Because the formula is reliable, and the characters are relatable. And training montages never, ever get old.
Here's every Rocky movie Easter egg and reference that we found in Creed 2. Have you found any that we missed? Let us know in the comments.
1. The plot of Rocky III
Creed II takes the basic premise of Rocky III and expands on it. Both films feature a boxer who's embracing his newfound success until he is brought to his lowest point by a hardscrabble opponent with a working class background. In Rocky III, it's Rocky Balboa and Clubber Lang. In Creed II, it's Adonis Creed and Viktor Drago.
The now humbled boxers then must train hard and fight, not for glory and fame and not for other people, but for themselves. And they win their respective rematches. Creed II even revisits the Rocky statue unveiled in Rocky III, which underlines the thematic connection between the two films
2. Earmuffs and hearing aids
In Rocky II, Rocky proposes to Adrian, but she doesn't hear it because she's wearing earmuffs. In Creed II, Adonis proposes to Bianca, but since she has her hearing aids turned off, she doesn't hear him either. Both circumstances force the men to propose again, awkwardly but just as sincerely.
3. Return of the turtles
The original turtles in Rocky's apartment from Rocky I make a cameo appearance in Creed II. Their names are Cuff and Link, and they are now 44 years old.
4. Echoes of the past
In Rocky V and Rocky Balboa (henceforth referred to as Rocky VI), there's a lot of revisiting of old haunts: of Mickey's gym, of the pet store where Adrian worked, and the ice rink where she and Rocky went on a date. There's a similar version of this in Creed II, where Ivan and Viktor Drago travel to America and visit the Rocky statue and the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This culminates in the tense face-to-face meeting between Rocky and Ivan at Adrian's.
5. Come eat at Adrian's!
In Rocky VI, we learn that Adrian has died (from "woman cancer," according to Rocky). And Rocky, after losing all his money in Rocky V, decides to open a restaurant called Adrian's, named after his wife. We see this restaurant in Rocky VI, Creed, and Creed II. Each time we see it, we get the impression that Rocky is conflicted about this new life—surrounded by mementos of his glory days, but not active in doing what he loves. Until, of course, a new challenge emerges and shakes him out of complacency.
6. The fallout of Rocky IV
The strongest part of the film is Ivan Drago's character arc. Dolph Lundgren, returning to the role that made him famous, imbues his monstrous, monolithic son Viktor with humanity. We learn that after Rocky IV, his wife left him and his son to marry a richer man. We learn that he's destroyed the rest of his life by hanging on to his pain and anger. We learn that the Russian government has abandoned him, since they no longer have a use for him as a propaganda tool. We end up feeling pity for Ivan because he was trained and bred to do one thing. And once he could no longer do that thing, he was adrift.
Brigitte Nielsen also makes an appearance as a member of the Russian elite, who congratulates her estranged son Viktor on his success. Both Ivan and Viktor are traumatized by this encounter; they hate her even though on some level, they both desire her approval. And when she walks out on them a second time during the film's finale, it leads to a moment of personal growth for Ivan. More on that later.
7. Don't take the fight
The roles are reversed in this film. In Rocky IV, Adrian is the one telling Rocky not to fight Drago, saying he'll lose and he has too much to lose. In Creed II, Rocky tells the same thing to Adonis. In both instances, the recipient of this advice ignores it. And in both instances, Adrian and Rocky come back to support their respective loved ones.
8. Babies raise the stakes
In Rocky II, Rocky becomes a father, which creates additional fear about fighting Apollo for the second time. In Creed II, Adonis becomes a father for the first time as well. He also learns that his daughter may have inherited her mother's hearing condition. She's going to require special care, which emphasizes what's at stake and what he stands to lose by facing Viktor again.
9. A training montage of other training montages
As always, the training montage in Creed II is a high-paced, sharply edited, well-scored affair. It takes bits from prior Rocky training sequences to create an ultimate highlight reel. Some of the more obvious examples.
- In both Rocky II and Creed II, the character uses a sledgehammer to boost his power.
- In nearly every Rocky movie, including this one, the character breaks into a full-on sprint in the closing minutes of the montage.
- There's a steel drum on fire in the training camp. There are multiple steel drums on fire throughout the Rocky movies, usually in Rocky's old neighborhood. In all instances, it's meant to evoke gritty authenticity.
- In Rocky IV, Rocky works out in the frigid Russian cold, and at the end of the training montage, climbs a mountain. Creed II inverts these expectations. Adonis's training camp is in a hot, triple-digit degree desert. His crowning moment, when he rises after collapsing from heat exhaustion, takes place on flat ground.
- In Rocky III, Creed's advice to Rocky is that he has to keep moving his feet to stay on the outside. In Creed II, Rocky advises the opposite; he wants Adonis to stay close to Viktor, and actually anchors Adonis' foot in a tire to make his point.
10. A father/son weakness
Both Creeds are vulnerable to body blows. In Rocky 1, Rocky breaks Apollo's ribs with a body blow in the 11th round. It causes internal bleeding, and Duke nearly stops the fight over it. In Creed II, Viktor lands crucial body blows in both of his fights against Adonis, which turn the tide in his favor.
11. Someone finally throws in the towel
The Rocky films contain some of the most neglectful boxing coaching ever committed to film. Mickey illegally cuts Rocky's eye in the first film so he can see out of it. Rocky doesn't throw in the towel in Rocky IV, which indirectly causes Apollo's death. In Creed I, Adonis can't see out of his left eye, and so when the referee asks Adonis how many fingers he's holding up, Rocky cheats by tapping out the number on Adonis' neck. Multiple times, we see boxers in Rocky movies take multiple uncontested shots to the head, and no one--not the corner, not the referee, not the cutman--signal to stop the fight.
Thus, the biggest irony of the movie is that Ivan Drago, the monolithic monster who said, "If he dies, he dies" in Rocky IV and reprises his iconic "I must break you" line in Creed II, is the one who finds his heart in this movie, and decides that glory and pride are not worth his son's life. After seeing his ex-wife walk out on their son again, Ivan realizes he's the only one who can be there for Viktor. He becomes the only person to ever throw in the towel in a Rocky film, against his son's vocal protestations.
12. The tie-off to Rocky VI
And lastly, we get to see Rocky reunite with his estranged son at the end of Creed II. As in Rocky VI, the part of Robert Balboa is performed by Milo Ventimiglia. We learn that Rocky has a grandson he's never met before named Logan, which should provide excellent fodder in another 15 years, when MGM decides on the next soft reboot on the Rocky franchise. Who's ready for Logan, Logan II, and Logan III?