Creed 3 officially gives The Rocky Franchise its Apollo replacement

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Creed 3!creed 3 officially replaces Apollo Creed in the Rocky franchise by giving Viktor Drago a similar role. From the beginning Believe franchise, the films centered on Apollo Creed’s secret son Adonis (Michael B. Jordan) copied some of the same beats as the original Rocky movies did. Adonis took over the lead role in the franchise, previously occupied by Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa. Meanwhile, the films saw the Italian stallion make the transition from fighter to trainer, effectively making him the Believe Movie version of Mickey Goldmill. They even brought back other characters from previous films.

For all the possibilities Believe Movies have replicated that Rocky Formula was not copied from the role played by Apollo Creed in the original films. The character of Carl Weathers featured prominently in the earlier films since he started out as the villain of Rocky. In Apollo’s arc, he returned again as a villain in the sequel, only this time losing to Rocky in the final fight. Then he returned Rocky III an unlikely ally for Balboa, and then Apollo died Rocky IV. The Believe Movies have tackled Apollo’s legacy through Adoni’s story, but now creed 3 has revealed his franchise replacement character.

Also Read: Rocky Isn’t the Only Franchise Character Confusingly Left Out of Creed 3

The role of Viktor Drago’s Creed 3 reflects the story of Apollo’s Rocky 3

Based on Viktor Dragos creed 3 roll, he is the Rocky the new Apollo of the franchise. The third installment in the sequel franchise gives Viktor a role that mirrors Apollo’s Rocky 3 Story. In the 1982 film, Apollo agrees to help Rocky train for his rematch against Clubber Lang. It marked a full change for Apollo, not seen as a partial antagonist for Rocky, and began his journey of becoming one of the franchise lead’s best friends. It is thanks to Apollo’s advice and training that Rocky is able to defeat Clubber Lang and reclaim his belt.

Even if the circumstances are slightly different, creed 3 copies this storyline for Viktor Drago, having him return in Act III to train Adonis for his fight against Damian Anderson. After being Adonis’ main villain in Creed IIthe third film brings Viktor back to find the former enemies getting along better before coming to the aid of Adonis to train him for the finale creed 3 Dispute. It’s a small moment in the larger context of history, but creed 3 still manages to show that Viktor has gone from villain to ally, just like Apollo in the original Rocky Franchise.

Viktor becoming the franchise’s new Apollo bodes well for his spin-off

The way creed 3 Viktor makes the franchise’s new Apollo comes at the perfect time, as it bodes well for the future Drago spinoff movie. If Viktor hadn’t returned and been given this kind of role, audiences might still have some complicated feelings when it comes to following Ivan Drago’s son as the lead in a movie. creed 2 did some work to make both characters more likable, but creed 3‘s Viktor Drago arc lets viewers see that a denouement has taken place. This should make it easier for viewers to cheer on Viktor’s success in the Drago Spinoff, but hopefully it doesn’t suffer the same fate as Apollo any time soon.

More: Creed 3’s other rocky change was bigger than Stallone’s absence