Not only did Michael B. Jordan return to the boxing ring for Creed III, which just released a new trailer, but he also journeyed behind the camera for the first time. Watch this first taste of his directorial debut below.
“Directing has always been an aspiration, but the timing had to be right. Creed III is that moment — a time in my life where I’ve grown more sure of who I am, holding agency in my own story, maturing personally, growing professionally, and learning from the Greats like Ryan Coogler, most recently Denzel Washington, and other top tier directors I respect,” Jordan said in a statement back in 2021.
In the trailer, we catch up with Adonis Creed (Jordan) seven years after the events of Creed II — while he and his family are thriving professionally and personally, things take an abrupt turn when his childhood friend Damian (Jonathan Majors) gets out of prison. While initially, Adonis wants to help out Damian as Damian returns to boxing, Damian’s resentment — and Adonis’s guilt over the past — leads to what may have always been inevitable: a showdown in the ring.
During a press conference to discuss the launch of the trailer, Jordan noted that thematically, “Family is always the core — family and heart. And also, you have to face your past and find out who you really are, which is something that we address in this movie… Settling debts and being accountable for your actions is something that we wanted to look at as well.”
Key to that is Majors’ involvement as Damian: “I’m very, very blessed and lucky to have him be a part of this story,” Jordan said. “I think he’s extremely talented, as the world is finding out daily — he’s finally getting the props that he’s due. And Jonathan was incredible. He showed up every day ready to work, and me and him bonded in a way that that I never had an opportunity to, I guess it’s my first time directing that relationship between director and actor, but I was like ‘I understand that now.’ And it’s a bond that lasts forever.”
Watch the trailer for Creed III below. The film arrives in theaters on March 3rd, 2023.