“The irony is, as my life evolves, I find new things in the Rocky character,” the 72-year-old said when the Sun visited the set of Creed II this past spring. “In the last one, he faced death and his own mortality. In this one, he’s finally completely alone. The only thing he has left is this young man. So he’s now part of the Creed universe. The Rocky universe is gone. It’s left in the graveyard.”
This is why the Rocky character worked in "Creed" and, I suspect, will as well in "Creed II." Rocky has aged. He's lost everyone that's important in his life, and I'm guessing he will die in one of these films. Maybe when it does happen it'll garner him another Oscar nomination, he's already been nominated twice for playing Rocky Balboa. Seeing the journey Balboa is having in these films, you just know it won't end well for the character.
"Creed II" will be released on November 21st.