Michael B. Jordan has returned to the boxing ring for another round in Creed II. He reprises his role as Adonis Creed, the son of Rocky character Apollo Creed, as he faces off against Viktor Drago, the son of Ivan Drago, the man who killed Apollo in the ring.

For Jordan, it was necessary to up the ante for the sequel. This required more training.

Photo: Barry Wetcher / Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures / Warner Bros. Pictures
© 2018 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

“I think it was a little more intense, even though I knew what to expect and I knew what it was going to feel like,” Jordan told Shadow and Act. “But we wanted to make things better, we wanted to raise the bar on the physique aspect and on the montages to really show the growth of Adonis and the franchise.” (Check out our interview with his trainer, body transformation specialist Corey Calliet here.)

While the central theme of Creed was Adonis’ internal struggle to decide who he wanted to be, this time, Adonis’ battle is more complex. A new father, Creed is dealing with, “the family [aspect] and figuring out why he fights,” Jordan says. “I think he kind of figured it out in the first one, but I think he still had a lot of healing to do with the death of his father looming over and not really feeling satisfied. Then the re-emergence of the Dragos, that kind of threw everything into the forefront and made things really emotional. I think he couldn’t see clearly at the beginning of this, so to kind of have him go through these obstacles and overcome them was extremely important.”

Creed II is in theaters Nov. 20.

READ MORE:

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‘Creed II’ Trainer Corey Calliet Speaks On Transforming Michael B. Jordan’s Body

‘Creed II’ Director Steven Caple Jr. On The Jump From Indie To Studio And Advice From Ryan Coogler

‘Creed II’: Tessa Thompson On The ‘Uniquely Black’ Love Story Of Bianca Porter And Adonis Creed

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