‘Creed 2’ director on emotional ending and Sylvester Stallone improv line

“Creed
II.”
MGM

• “Creed II” director Steven Caple Jr. explains what led to the
  emotional ending.
• He also shares the line Sylvester Stallone came up with on
  the spot at the conclusion of the final fight.

Warning: Spoilers below if you haven’t seen “Creed
II.”

“Creed II” has quickly become a critical and
box-office success thanks to the movie touching on the
“Rocky” franchise mythology — specifically Adonis Creed (played
by Michael B. Jordan) facing the son of Ivan Drago, who was
responsible for Apollo Creed’s death in “Rocky IV” — while also
delving deeper into the storylines of Adonis and Rocky Balboa
(Sylvester Stallone).

That is especially evident in the movie’s ending, which doesn’t
close with a dramatic fight, as many of the “Rocky” films did,
but with an emotional dive into the main characters.

For the Dragos, Ivan (Dolph Lundgren) and his son Viktor (Florian
Munteanu), it’s the father burying the decades of hatred for
Balboa and finally treating Viktor as a son instead of a tool for
his revenge. For Adonis, it’s escaping the shadow of his famous
father and building his own legacy with the family he’s having
with Bianca (Tessa Thompson). And for Balboa, the time spent with
Adonis makes him realize he has to finally reconnect with his
son.

Read more:

The director of “Creed II” describes the conversation with
Sylvester Stallone that convinced him he’d have the freedom to
make his mark on the franchise

It’s a storyline that wasn’t addressed at all in the first
“Creed” movie, but “Creed II” director Steven Caple Jr. said
Stallone mentioned at their first meeting he wanted to bring back
that storyline.

“He didn’t want to die,” Caple told Business Insider of how
Stallone saw the Rocky character by the end of the sequel. “And
we felt he needed his family, so Rocky had to leave Philly.”

But the reuniting of Balboa and his son Robert (played by “This
is Us” star Milo Ventimiglia, reprising the role he played in
2006’s “Rocky Balboa”) isn’t the only shock “Rocky” fans find at
the end of the movie. There’s also how Balboa celebrates Creed’s
win over Drago. He never enters the ring.

(L-R)
Sylvester Stallone, director Steven Caple Jr., and Michael B.
Jordan on the set of “Creed II.”
MGM

Caple said that too was all Stallone.

“Sly was basically like, ‘I’ve run in and out of the ring a
million times in these films,’ and I agreed,” Caple said.

So they came up with a shot of Stallone sitting ringside as
everyone celebrates in the ring. But how do Creed and Balboa
enjoy the win if Rocky isn’t going in the ring?

Caple came up with a shot of Stallone touching Creed’s glove from
outside the ring, and then Stallone delivered a line he came up
with on the spot.

“That line Rocky says, ‘It’s your time now,’ that wasn’t even in
the script,” Caple said. “I didn’t know what he was going to
say.”

Caple doesn’t know where the “Creed” franchise will go from here,
but he wanted to make sure to end this movie with an uplifting
feel for all the characters involved.

“Creed, Drago, Rocky, they all realize something at the end of
that fight, it isn’t about the win anymore,” Caple said.