Michael B. Jordan has had an incredible journey over the past few years, most notably between playing Killmonger to T’Challa in Black Panther and Adonis in the Rocky spinoff Creed. Following the release of Creed II in 2018, that story is set to continue with a third film that Jordan will not only star in, but also direct. That’s right, Creed III is set to be the actor’s directorial debut, and his co-star Tessa Thompson recently spoke to the upcoming experience.
Tessa Thompson memorably plays Adonis Creed’s romantic partner, Bianca Taylor, in the Creed movies, and it’s been announced that she will reprise her role in Creed III. While speaking to ET Online at the Gotham Awards in New York City, Thompson touched on having the chance to soon work with Michael B. Jordan as a first-time director.
He’s always been so actively involved in these movies in general, they really are his heart. So I’m just really excited to support him in this part of his journey. Especially as someone who wants to direct at some point in the future too. It’s a gift to think about entering that part of my journey, so I’m so happy to support Mike in doing that.
It sounds like Michael B. Jordan sitting in the director’s chair for Creed III isn’t a major surprise for Tessa Thompson considering how involved he has been with the rest of the movies. Jordan is an accomplished produce and even founded the company Outlier Society, which has been instrumental in producing movies like Just Mercy, Without Remorse and the upcoming Static Shock for DC.
Look, I know we’re talking about Michael B. Jordan here, but Tessa Thompson dropping her interest in directing is a really interesting element of her comments we’ll keep tabs on. The actress has created an incredible resume for herself as of late and surely picked up something from the incredible filmmakers she’s worked with, like Taika Waititi, Nia DaCosta, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay and recent actor-turned-director Rebecca Hall, who helmed her in Passing, which she was being honored for at the Gotham Awards.
While Tessa Thompson’s specific interests in directing are being kept close to the vest for now, she gushed about Michael B. Jordan had long time “aspirations” to move to directing, and she’ll luckily be part of the ride for the third Creed movie. However, according to Jordan, Sylvestor Stallone’s Rocky will not be in Creed III. The movie is gaining some major talent in Jonathan Majors, though it’s unclear at this time who he will play.
Tessa Thompson shared that she has read the Creed III script, which is written by King Richard’s Zach Baylin. At the moment, we don’t know when Creed III will begin production, but it was previously expected to be in this time window, i.e. late 2021. Majors recently wrapped on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, so it’s possible they were waiting on him. Jordan has recently been training up for the threequel, so we expect Adonis Creed to get back into the ring soon.