Apollo Creed’s family tree in ‘Rocky’ and ‘Creed’ boxing movies including son Adonis & more
From the original Rocky movies to the Creed series, one thing you can count on is family. Family can be a motivator for success and provide the happiest moments. Tragedy can also strike at any time, forcing everyone in the film to grow.
Rocky Balboa ponders the deaths of coach Mickey Goldmill and his wife Adrian. He also shares growth with Michael B. Jordan’s Adonis Creed after Apollo Creed’s death.
In Creed III, family is the central theme of the film.
Creed III, due out on March 3, 2023, has a plot that reads, “When a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy reappears, the duel between former friends is more than just a fight.” Jonathan Majors plays Damian, Creed’s friend. It appears that Creed and Anderson are closing in after years of separation. Suddenly they go from best friends to rivals.
On the way to Michael B. Jordan’s third take as the son of the legendary Apollo, here’s a breakdown of boxing’s legendary pedigree.
MORE: Is Sylvester Stallone in Creed III?
Apollo creed
Apollo Creed Actors: Carl Weathers
The main antagonist of the first film, which came out in 1976, world heavyweight champion Creed needed a new opponent when the main contender for his belt was injured. Charismatic and colorful, Creed gives Rocky, a native of Philadelphia, a shot at gold in his home state. Without thinking much about it, Creed is challenged by Rocky in the first fight and is knocked out at one point for the first time in his career. Creed won the fight via split decision.
In Rocky 2, Creed is obsessed with the fact that Rocky would not perish. Feeling he has something to prove, Creed tries to lure a now-retired Rocky back into the ring. After several attempts, Rocky accepts.
The second fight sees Creed as the attacker, avoiding his corners’ desire to make it a safe fight. A now motivated Rocky wants to KO Balboa and doesn’t let Creed get what he wants. Both are at a point, Rocky gets up first, ending Creed’s unbeaten streak. This is where Creed shows signs of respect. A retired boxer in Rocky 3, Creed helps Rocky face Clubber Lang after a previous defeat and the death of trainer Mickey.
Creed and Rocky become friends in this film as Creed tries to make Rocky’s fighting style passionate again through the Eye of the Tiger. With the help of Creed, Rocky beats Lang. At the end of the film, the two compete in a sparring match, away from the fans. In Creed, Rocky tells Adonis that his father won.
MORE: Ranking the top 40 quotes from all six ‘Rocky’ movies
Rocky IV sees Rocky as Creed’s coach, coming out of his retirement to face Ivan Drago. Much to Rocky’s chagrin, Creed attends the match but is brutalized. Rocky tries to stop the fight, but Creed won’t let him, not until it’s too late. Creed dies and Rocky seeks revenge for his death. In Creed’s boxers, he knocks out Drago in Russia.
Those red, white, and blue boxer shorts worn by Apollo and Rocky were later passed on to Adonis in the Creed films.
Mary Anne Creed – Apollo’s wife
Mary Anne Creed Actress: Lavelle Roby, Sylvia Meals, Phylicia Rashad
Apollo Creed was married to Mary Anne Creed. She was played by Lavelle Roby, later taken over by Sylvia Meals. In the Creed films, Phylicia Rashad played Mary Anne after Meals died.
Rocky IV stars Mary Anne who fears for her husband’s life when Ivan Drago beats him to death. When Creed was released, there was a revelation that Apollo was having an extramarital affair. The birth of Adonis Creed was a result. Mary Anne adopts him as her own after Apollo’s death.
She’s someone who gives Adonis words of wisdom as he rises in the ranks of the boxing world.
Adonis Creed – Apollo’s son
Adonis Creed Actors: Michael B. Jordan
Adonis, the illegitimate son of Apollo, spent the first half of his life in foster care and in a youth home before Mary Anne adopted him. He never gets the chance to meet Apollo.
In Creed, Adonis, who goes by the surname Johnson, has a nice job boxing in Tijuana. He quits this job to pursue his dream of becoming a successful boxer. He moves from California to Philadelphia to find Rocky. The two form a kind of bond. Adonis primarily uses the Johnson name to forge his own legacy and is eventually found out. He accepts the name Creed, and when he faces “Pretty” Ricky Conlan, he is given boxing shorts with Johnson and Creed embroidered on them.
MORE: What did the Creed III trailer tell us?
Conlan punches him, but Adonis wins the respect of everyone in boxing.
In Creed II, Adonis wins the WBC heavyweight title but is later badly beaten by Ivan Drgao’s son Viktor. After soul searching for a bit, Adonis beats Drago in a rematch after Ivan threw in the towel, something Rocky didn’t do with Apollo. By the end of the film, he’s ready to continue Creed’s legacy while writing his own story.
Bianca Taylor – Adonis’ wife
Bianca Taylor Actress: Tessa Thompson
Bianca is an aspiring musician when we first meet her in the first Creed. As a neighbor of Adonis, they enter into a relationship. She has progressive hearing loss. In Creed II, Bianca has signed a recording contract and requires the use of a hearing aid throughout.
Adonis and Bianca become engaged in Creed II. Bianca returns in Creed III, with family being a major theme of the film.
“These films have always felt unique and special to me because, at their core, they are really films about family and relationships; the mentor-mentee relationships between father and son,” Thompson told Yahoo. “At the core of these films is really about family, both the family you’re born into and what that means in terms of your legacy, but also the family you’ve chosen. That’s what appeals to me most about this franchise.”
MORE: World-class boxing trainers make their picks for Tank Davis vs. Ryan Garcia
Amara Creed – Adonis’ daughter
Amara Creed Actress: Mila Davis-Kent
Amara was born in Creed II. She is born deaf as Bianca’s hearing impairment is hereditary.
Other Creed family members
In the original Rocky films, we see that Creed has a son and a daughter, although they are never named or mentioned in later Rocky or Creed films.
Outside of the Creed family, Tony “Duke” Evers, played by Tony Burton, was Apollo’s manager/trainer. He is also a longtime friend of Creed. When Apollo died, Evers told Rocky he considered the former his son. Evers had one son, Tony Jr. “Little Duke” is portrayed by Wood Harris in the Creed films and is Adoni’s close friend and family coach.