Fans of the Rocky franchise can easily say that Creed is one of the best spin-offs of the last few years. No other franchise has been able to blow people’s minds as much as Creed has by owning its legacy while still bringing something new on board (looking at you, “Jurassic World” and “Halloween”). “Creed 2” ended with Donnie having a daughter, Amara, with Bianca. Just like in the films, Donnie was able to create his own legacy. Michael B. Jordan returns as the titular character and also packs a punch with his directorial debut. “Creed 3” also sees the return of Donnie’s ex-rival Viktor Drago, but for different reasons than imagined. Before we get into the film, if you haven’t seen it yet and haven’t seen the trailer, skip the latter because it will not leave anything to the imagination. Be warned, our friend, and let’s get into spoilers.
Spoilers Ahead
‘Creed 3’ Plot Synopsis: How Does Donnie Know Damian?
“Creed 3” tells the story of Damian Anderson, shifting focus from the titular character to his backstory. We are able to get a peek into Adonis’ past before Mary Anne swoops in to save him. Young Adonis was in a group home, and it turned out he, along with his friend Damian, was beaten up a lot by the father figure of the home, Leon. After two years in the house, when the two got out, Damian was a champion in the making with big dreams, having won the Golden Gloves championship. Unfortunately, soon after, Donnie got into a brawl with Leon in the street. Donnie went hard on Leon because he was very affected by the man in the group. Leon’s man came to break up the brawl, and in the middle of it, Damian brought a gun. Unexpectedly, the cops showed up, and so the boys ran, but Damian got caught, and Donnie escaped.
What’s Retirement Looking Like For Adonis?
In the present day, Adonis is retired and living a family life. He’s the undefeated world lightweight and heavyweight champion. Now, he trains up and coming boxers and has the new world champion, Felix Chaviz, under his belt. Everything in his world is shaken up all of a sudden with the return of his old friend Damian (Dame). After 18 years in prison, ‘Diamond’ Damian Anderson wants to fight for a title. Donnie wants to help him, but he knows this is absolutely impossible. He still takes on Damian as a sparring partner for Felix. Felix is preparing to beat Drago. Out of the blue, Drago gets roughed up just before the big fight, and Donnie’s idea is to get Dame to fight the match because his back story will be the perfect reason for the common folk to watch this match. Donnie believes he’s giving Dame a chance, but truthfully, nobody is on his side. Damian is angry about everything he’s been through in life; he’s not boxing but ‘fighting the world.’ In the fight, after almost getting disqualified, Dame hits Felix with a massive knockout punch, injuring him badly. Donnie realizes his mistake and wants to fix it all, but little Duke won’t have any of it. Donnie visits Dame after the match and realizes his true intentions were to exact revenge on Donnie. Dame finally shows him his true self, calling him ‘baby Creed’ and hurling insults at him for taking his rightful place as champion.
Donnie realizes the only way Dame can be put in his place is by taking him out in the ring himself. Donnie takes to a live show to talk about what’s happening and gets a live call from Dame, insulting his legacy. Donnie immediately challenges him and tells him to show his might in the ring. Cue intense workout routine montage that is equal parts motivational and equal parts unbelievable.
Donnie’s Family Life
Bianca is now a music producer because her hearing has become worse than before. She misses performing but has accepted her new life and adjusted to it well. Donnie’s marriage starts to get a little shaky when Bianca feels distanced from Donnie. Amara gets into a fight at school, so Bianca and Donnie get into arguments about her fighting habits. Donnie believes she needs to learn to defend herself, but B wants her to understand that not everything can be solved with a blow to the face. After Dame returns, as Donnie says in the movie, the bad memories do too. Donnie hides his emotions from B because he doesn’t want to revisit those memories. The emotional baggage finally takes a toll on him when he has a huge fight with his mother, Mary Anne. Mary Anne kept Dame’s letters to Donnie away because she wanted him to escape that life. Donnie is terribly angry with Mary Anne for making that decision for him and explodes at her. She’s brought to tears, and Donnie leaves. But this is when Mary Anne has her second stroke. This time, B thinks it’s a fatal one, and Donnie has to say goodbye. An absolutely emotional scene plays out as Mary Anne remembers Apollo and tells him that Adonis was the reason she could forgive Apollo for leaving her alone. Adonis saved her, and that’s how she died. Unfortunately, we get no sign of Rocky, not even a mention at the funeral.
‘Creed 3’ Ending Explained: Will Donnie And Dame Be Able To Reconcile?
It wouldn’t be a “Creed” film if it didn’t end with a massive fight between the big villain and the underdog. Yes, Adonis is the underdog because he’s been retired for three years by the time he has to fight his childhood ‘brother,” Dame. Probably one of the best fight scenes in the boxing film world. After round 2, the crowd fades away, and all we can see are Donnie and Dame, and all they can see is each other. Their present selves, but also their younger selves. It can be said that Dame and Donnie both realized a lot of things during the fight. They forgive each other a little bit with every blow. After an almost unbelievable;le fight with both sides getting increasingly closer to getting the last blow, Creed manages to get the final knockout, of course, in the film; after all, this is his legacy, not Dame’s. The film doesn’t end there, though. We get an emotional scene between Dame and Donnie. There are no bridges burned between these two because they both realize that they were both kids when everything went downhill for them. Donnie didn’t ask after Dame because he was busy growing up, and Dame felt abandoned by a child. An uncalled truce is formed between the two of them, and we can expect a lot from Dame in “Creed 4”. The movie ends with a beautiful scene between the Creed family. Amara’s in the ring, punching the air and challenging her father. Donnie enters the ring and pretends to get knocked over by the young girl. Absolutely devastatingly beautiful, they call Amara the new champion, and the movie closes with them walking away.
What Are We Expecting In ‘Creed 4’?
Well, of course, we expect to see the return of Jonathan Majors’ Dame. Maybe more from Felix, who had to step down a little too soon in this one. Now that Donnie is retired for good after being the undefeated champion, will we see his daughter take the ring? Is it that time? Or maybe we’re thinking too ahead of ourselves. There are also plans for expanding the franchise, so maybe it’s possible to see a Drago spin-off in the works soon with Jordan’s plans on expanding the “Creed verse.” Either way, we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for whatever comes next after that beautiful last fight sequence.
“Creed 3” is a 2023 sports drama film directed by Michael B. Jordan.
