Rocky Balboa's Near-Death In Original Creed Script – Sylvester Stallone Reveals All

Rocky Balboa almost had a very different fate in Creed. Sylvester Stallone reprised the role of Rocky in the first and second Creed movies. He trains Adonis “Donnie” Creed (Michael B. Jordan), who is the son of Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) from the original Rocky films.

While looking back at his past roles with GQ, Stallone reveals that Rocky was originally going to die in Creed. He explains that director Ryan Coogler was initially “persistent” and “kept pushing” for this to happen, and it would have involved Rocky having Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Stallone was “never comfortable” with this fate, though, and remained insistent about Rocky not dying. Once Rocky’s fate was changed, Stallone felt that filming Creed was a positive experience, and he enjoyed getting to put on a dramatic performance that didn’t rely on him fighting as in the franchise’s previous installments. Check out Stallone’s comments below:

I was never comfortable. I dodged that bullet for two years, three years. And Ryan Coogler was very persistent, kept pushing it. And we had the same agent, but I didn’t want to do it because the way he had written it, Rocky dies. He gets Lou Gehrig’s disease. And I said, I have a big thing about characters like that dying. I’d much rather them get on a train going somewhere, and you never see them again. But to die, it will just bum the audience out completely.

So once we got over that, I said, okay, we’ll give it a shot. And it was a lot of dramatic acting in that because I couldn’t use my body. I wasn’t fighting. So that was a good challenge and it turned out pretty well.

Stallone also explains that he did not join the cast of Creed 3 because it would have been repetitive for Rocky to continue being the titular character’s mentor, especially after emphasizing that he was no longer needed at the end of the second movie. He compares this to how the movies avoided repetition in Rocky’s dynamic with Adrian Pennino (Talia Shire).

I think it gets to the point where you become, not necessarily a flashback. In the end of [Creed] 2, I say, “You don’t need me anymore. You’re on your own.” And that was the passing the mantle, because it’s the same reason I couldn’t go back to Adrian all the time, because it was pretty much the same dialogue: “Don’t fight, you’re going to get hurt, don’t fight.” So when she was removed, now the story went in a whole different direction, and I guess Creed 3 did the same thing.

With a 95% critical score and 89% audience score, Creed was an acclaimed film and largely seen as an effective way to expand the franchise. The reception may have been quite different if the movie featured the death of Rocky, and the trajectory of the sequels and their stories probably would have shifted as well.

Due to Rocky’s fate being changed, he is still alive in the franchise. While this means he theoretically could return in the confirmed Creed 4, Stallone’s comments indicate that this is unlikely to happen, as Creed no longer needs Rocky, and Stallone is worried about the character’s role becoming overdone.

Creed 2 may not mark Stallone’s final appearance in the franchise, though, as there are numerous Rocky and Creed projects in development where he could return. There is also the upcoming movie I Play Rocky, which explores the behind-the-scenes story of making Rocky and features Anthony Ippolito as a young Stallone.

Regardless of what happens in the franchise’s future, Creed is an important and celebrated part of its legacy. For better or worse, that legacy would not be the same if it killed off Rocky, which likely would have proved to be a divisive decision.