In 1985, Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa faced off against Russian powerhouse Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, a story that was recently explored through a new lens thanks to the director’s cut. Then in 2018, Dolph Lundgren reprised Drago for Creed II, which saw the character’s son, Viktor Drago, exchanging fisticuffs with Michael B. Jordan’s Adonis Creed. Now, according to Lundgren, there’s been talk of continuing the Drago saga in a Rocky spinoff.
During a recent interview, Dolph Lundgren shared his disappointment over a fight between Ivan Drago and Rocky Balboa was cut from Creed II, but he then segued about how we might be seeing more of Drago in the future. As Lundgren put it to THR:
By the way, I think there’s some talk about doing a whole spinoff on Drago with MGM. So you may get more of that.
When we left off with Ivan and Florian Munteanu’s Viktor Drago at the end of Creed II, their relationship was in a healthier place thanks to the former realizing that the latter’s life was more important to him than any victory. It would be easy enough for us to leave off with the Dragos there and take comfort knowing that the cycle of dysfunction has been broken, but apparently there have been talks about reuniting with them in their own movie. Judging by Dolph Lundgren’s comment, it sounds like such a project is far from a sure thing, but the fact that it’s even being discussed is intriguing.
Currently the Rocky franchise is chugging along through the Creed film series, with Michael B. Jordan taking the directorial reins on Creed III. Sylvester Stallone has also talked about returning to the main Rocky film series with an epilogue story following the elderly boxing champion training a young fighter who entered the United States illegally. Throw in a Drago-centric movie, and that’s enough for this franchise to evolve into a full-blown cinematic universe. Given that Florian Munteanu’s fame has been boosted by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and the upcoming Borderlands movie, maybe that combined with Lundgren’s significant profile can help with pushing the Drago spinoff forward.
For now, you can look forward to seeing Dolph Lundgren next in Castle Falls, which he also directed and produced. His other upcoming projects include The Expendables 4 and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Creed III will arrive in theaters on November 23, 2022, and Rocky IV: Rocky vs. Drago is now available to digitally for those of you curious about how Ivan Drago’s arc differs compared to what we saw of him in the theatrical cut.
You’re also welcome to look through our 2021 release schedule and 2022 release schedule to see what soon-to-arrive cinematic entertainment catches your eye.