The Connector interviews ‘Creed II’ director and cast

This Thanksgiving weekend marked the release of the newest installment in the beloved “Rocky” franchise,  “Creed II.” In 2015, Ryan Coogler brought a fresh burst of energy to the series with “Creed,” allowing a new story to take center stage focusing on the son of Apollo Creed, Adonis, as he attempts to honor his father’s legacy while also forging his own path.

In the sequel, Adonis Creed must face off against Viktor Drago, the son of Ivan Drago — the man who killed Apollo in the ring back in “Rocky IV.” In doing so, Adonis must take caution, as new responsibilities and challenges pop up in his life that could change the game for good. With the first “Creed” managing to do such a stellar job at honoring the franchise while feeling new, “Creed II” had quite a bit to live up to in bringing its own voice to the table.

Director Steven Caple Jr., fresh off his 2016 film “The Land” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival the same year, said, “I feel I have a sense of my style and in the way I approach things. I feel I’m great at ensemble pieces, allowing each character to stand out from one another.”

Caple continued, “To get really technical, I really like coloring. There are a lot of warm colors in the world Adonis inhabits and cool ones in the one that Viktor inhabits. Sound, as well, I really wanted it to pop. Ribs cracking and other sound design choices — I really want to bring down the crowd with that. Overall, it’s a blend of genre and reality and how I approach it and I felt like that stuck out from all the other ‘Rocky’ films.”

The film’s talent also had a lot to live up to. Michael B. Jordan has had great experience, but his co-star Florian Munteanu, who plays Viktor Drago, came in with nervous anticipation being this is the actor’s first big role.

“Well obviously, when you get a big chance like that, there’s pressure on your shoulders. Steven, Mike and Sly discovered me and there’s that worry that you don’t want to let those people down because they gave you that opportunity. But if there’s anything I know about me, it’s that I work only under pressure — my biggest and best performances are always under pressure,” said Munteanu. “Going into this movie, I knew that I always do what I have to do. Even when Steven told me he required a lot of emotions from my side, I knew that I could do it. I only need the right people around me and that’s why I feel so lucky to have worked with those people because we were like a real family — especially with me as a new guy, so it helped me a lot.”

At the end of the day, while boxing is a key element, the emotions, characters and themes are what keep audiences coming back to this legendary saga for over 40 years — particularly around the Thanksgiving season. The team behind “Creed II” took this task seriously and did their best to find new ways to bring these characters, old and new, to places they have never been before.

None can probably say it better than Michael B. Jordan himself, who states,”With the ‘Rocky’ films, Thanksgiving Day releases have always been a part of the franchise. When you deal with a sport like boxing, it’s such an individual thing and we wanted to play on those relationships that grown from that, such as with me and Bianca, it’s the idea of ‘I’ versus ‘we.'”

Jordan continued, “Adonis has to mature and grow, his arc over the film is to think of everything as a ‘we.’ As much as he feels that he hasn’t had a traditional family, he wants to find his tribe. So we really wanted to tie in his purpose for fighting, outside of the natural selfish reasons of him wanting to become champ, he has to look deeper around him to his family as a support system.”

Be sure to check out “Creed II” out now nationwide.