Adonis’ Creed loss, mirroring the original Rocky film ending, was the perfect way to continue Rocky‘s most crucial message. In the first Creed, Adonis trains tirelessly with Rocky, trying to live up to his father’s legacy and beat heavyweight champion Ricky Conlan. Unfortunately, by the end of the film, when it’s time for the big match, Adonis loses. The scene mirrors exactly what happened in the first Rocky film. Rocky Balboa was determined to become a known boxer and went up against Apollo Creed with hopes of coming out as a winner. This wasn’t the case, as he found himself severely injured in the ring and calling for his wife.
Luckily, neither Adonis nor Rocky allowed their losses to get them down. Creed premiered the third installment of the franchise in early March, while Rocky had five sequels. Both franchises have showcased the massive success Adonis and Rocky faced in their boxing careers, proving they didn’t need to win their first fights in order to make it in the boxing world. In fact, if Adonis had won the fight at the end of the first Creed, it would have betrayed Rocky‘s message and made for two very different sequels.
Creed Losing Honored The Rocky Franchise’s Most Important Message
Rocky mirrored Sylvester Stallone’s own rags-to-riches life story and carried the message that how no matter how many times someone fails, they can always get back up and try again. This is the message Rocky sends when the main character loses his match against Apollo, so Adonis had to lose in Creed. Otherwise, the message behind the films would be lost. Even though he trained hard and is Apollo’s son, Adonis still failed. In Rocky 2, the boxer rises to fame because of his match with Apollo. Even though he lost the original match, he gained attention, which allowed him to continue his career and win against Apollo in a rematch.
It was important for Adonis to have the same experience because it carries on the message and helps him further relate to his coach, Rocky. It also proves how determined Adonis is and how much he really wants to be a boxer like his father. If he were to give up after his loss, it would prove he didn’t really want it as badly as he thought. However, because he keeps going, he honors his coach and allows himself a life of success in the boxing world, just like Rocky and Apollo had.
Creed Winning In His First Movie Would’ve Hurt The Sequels
Adonis’ loss in the first Creed movie set up the perfect plot for Creed 2. Adonis gains notoriety for his fight in the first film, which allows him to keep his career going, just like in the Rocky movies. Had he won in the first movie, he would have had nothing to prove to anyone in the following film.
His win at the end of Creed 2 would be underwhelming, and the scene where Adonis fights Conlan again and wins at the beginning of Creed 3 likely wouldn’t have been included. The storyline from failure in the first Creed, rising to fame and success in Creed 2, and being a massive star in Creed 3 would have been ruined by Adonis’ win, and the sequels wouldn’t have flowed as seamlessly.
