Creed 2 (2018): Cast, Plot, Songs and the Drago Rematch

Creed 2 is about a new heavyweight champion, Adonis Creed, who is challenged by Viktor Drago, the son of Ivan Drago, the Russian boxer who killed Adonis's father Apollo Creed in the ring.

Adonis has won the world heavyweight title and is getting his life in order, proposing to his girlfriend Bianca. Then Ivan Drago resurfaces in Ukraine with his son Viktor, a hungry young fighter. A promoter pushes Viktor to challenge Adonis for the title, hoping to restore the Drago name.

Adonis wants the fight, but his mentor Rocky Balboa refuses to train him because he fears history will repeat itself. That standoff carries the first act: a young champion who needs the one man who understands the Drago family, and an older trainer who has already lost one fighter to them. The film follows Creed (2015) and reaches back to Rocky 4 (1985), where Ivan Drago first appeared. If you are new to the saga, the Rocky movies in order page shows where this one sits.

The full plot of Creed 2 runs from Adonis's title win to a brutal rematch in Moscow, and Adonis wins it. Adonis proposes to Bianca after taking the heavyweight belt, and she accepts. In Ukraine the broke Ivan Drago prepares Viktor to avenge his own defeat by Rocky decades earlier. Promoter Buddy Marcelle sets up the title fight, and when Rocky refuses to be in his corner, Adonis trains with Tony 'Little Duke' Evers and moves with Bianca to Los Angeles. Bianca learns she is pregnant.

Adonis takes the fight underprepared and is badly beaten. He keeps the title only because Viktor is disqualified for an illegal blow. Afterward Adonis falls into a physical and emotional slump and drifts from Bianca. His mother Mary Anne persuades Rocky to help, and Rocky agrees to train him for a rematch. Bianca gives birth to a daughter, Amara, who is born deaf, and Rocky becomes her godfather.

Meanwhile Ivan drives Viktor hard, and Viktor is shaken when his estranged mother Ludmilla appears at a state dinner. Rocky and Little Duke take Adonis to the desert to train him to absorb punishment and fight from close range. The rematch in Moscow is punishing. Adonis soaks up heavy damage, then knocks Viktor down twice in round ten. Ludmilla walks out, and Ivan throws in the towel to protect his son. Adonis wins.

Creed 2 premiered in New York on Wednesday, November 14, 2018, at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, a week before its US theatrical release on November 21, 2018.

Australia followed on November 29, 2018, and the UK on November 30, 2018, according to Box Office Mojo. MGM released the film in the US and Warner Bros. Pictures handled international distribution. The film is rated PG-13 in the US, 12A in the UK and M in Australia.

In China, Creed 2 became the first Rocky saga entry to get a theatrical release there, as Deadline reported in December 2018. Worldwide it earned $214 million on a $50 million budget, more than four times its cost, with $115.7 million domestic and $98.5 million international. The full series comparison is on the Rocky box office page.

The ending of Creed 2 resolves the Drago story by making the decisive act a mercy: Ivan Drago throws in the towel in round ten, telling Viktor that losing is acceptable. After two knockdowns, with Ludmilla having walked out of the arena, Ivan chooses his son over a belt. Adonis wins, but, in my opinion, the real victory belongs to the Dragos.

To see why the towel matters, start with the first fight. Adonis takes it underprepared, is badly beaten and keeps the title only because Viktor is disqualified for an illegal blow, so the win is hollow. Rocky's refusal to work his corner comes from Rocky IV (1985), where he stood in Apollo's corner as an exhibition turned into a one sided beating. The desert training that follows, with Rocky and Little Duke teaching Adonis to absorb punishment and fight from close range, is the direct answer to that first loss. The Moscow rematch is built so Adonis can survive heavy damage, then knock Viktor down twice in round ten. It could be argued that this is the cleanest setup and payoff in the Creed side of the saga, in the way Rocky II (1979), directed by Stallone, also hangs on a rematch.

The towel is the answer to the film's opening problem. Ivan's pursuit of revenge left him broke and his family fractured, with Ludmilla estranged from Viktor after the state dinner scene, and the towel ends it. Afterward Ivan and Viktor go back to training together in Ukraine, with the focus on family rather than revenge. It mirrors Adonis, who spent the middle of the film chasing a fight for his father's sake and drifting from Bianca while she was pregnant.

The two quieter scenes close the loop. Rocky travels to Vancouver to reconcile with his estranged son Robert and meets his grandson Logan. That thread reaches back to Rocky Balboa (2006), where Milo Ventimiglia's Robert felt stuck in his father's shadow and the two were distant. So the old trainer finally fixes his own family before helping Adonis fix his. Then Adonis and Bianca visit Apollo's grave with baby Amara, and Adonis makes peace with his father's legacy.

Production context supports the family reading. Ryan Coogler stepped aside to executive producer, Variety reported, and Steven Caple Jr. took over, while Sylvester Stallone stayed on as co-writer and producer, so the Rocky voice carried through the handoff.

Is it better than the first film? It could be argued that Creed (2015) is the tighter drama, while Creed 2 is the bigger saga payoff, because it needs Rocky IV to land. That being said, if you want the Drago rematch, this is the one to watch. For the next chapter see Creed 3.

Creed 2 was filmed mainly in Philadelphia, with additional work at Grey Towers Castle at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania.

Filming began in Philadelphia on March 15, 2018, with the crew at the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps, as the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The Port Richmond neighborhood was also used. Philadelphia has been the home of the saga since Rocky (1976), so the return to the Art Museum steps keeps Adonis's story tied to the city where Rocky trained. It is also a useful contrast: the Moscow rematch is the one stretch where the film leaves that home ground, and the Philadelphia shoot gives the Ukraine and Russia scenes something to push against.

Creed 2 trivia covers the director change, the Philadelphia shoot, the international release and the companion album.

• Ryan Coogler, who directed the first Creed, did not return as director because of Black Panther and took an executive producer role instead.
• Filming began in Philadelphia on March 15, 2018, with the crew at the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps.
• Warner Bros. Pictures distributed the film internationally, while MGM released it in the US.
• Mike WiLL Made-It curated the companion soundtrack album, released November 16, 2018.
• In China the film was the first Rocky saga entry to get a theatrical release there.