The Black Panther Star to Create His Own Anime
Seems like the Rocky franchise is gaining more popularity again.
Michael B. Jordan is known for his roles as Erik Killmonger in Black Panther and Adonis Creed in the Creed trilogy, the Rocky spin-off.
The American actor is also a big fan of anime. And that is exactly what he seems to want to bring to life. Creed III, which Jordan directed and starred in, is a huge box office success now.
Amazon (the movie was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, now owned by the Bezos' company) clearly intends to profit even more, expanding the franchise into new live-action series and... even an anime.
Well, we're just happy for anime lover Jordan!
The Creed trilogy tells the story of the heavyweight boxing career of Adonis Creed.
He was mentored by the legendary Rocky Balboa, whose best friend was the protagonist's biological father Apollo Creed (played by Carl Weathers), a character who was greatly inspired by the boxer Muhammad Ali.
According to Deadline, Jordan has been in talks with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for years about the possibility of expanding the franchise, including original projects under his direction.
For example, there is already a movie in the works, Drago, which will focus on Ivan Drago, the main rival of Rocky and Apollo, and his son Victor, who first appeared in Creed II.
In addition, a project dedicated to Adonis' daughter is planned, as well as a number of other TV shows.
Most interestingly, however, is that an anime series is in development that will also follow the story of a young boxer.
This should come as no surprise. Jordan has previously talked about how anime influenced his vision for Creed III (which was his directorial debut).
Titles such as Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, Fullmetal Alchemist, My Hero Academia, and even Akira influenced his vision of character relationships, especially the rivalry between Adonis and Damian Anderson.
There are no details about the upcoming anime in the Rocky universe, most likely it's still in the concept stage. But given Jordan's enthusiasm, it's just a matter of time.
We can only hope that the upcoming sports anime will be as good as classics like Baki the Grappler or Hajime no Ippo.