It’s been a long time coming, but Creed is finally out in theaters.

There are multiple reasons why this movie has been so highly anticipated. For starters, it branches off of the world-famous Rocky movies. In those Rocky movies, we are introduced to boxer Apollo Creed. In the first movie, Creed plays Rocky’s antagonist. After the first movie, Creed and Rocky develop a strong friendship. However, in the fourth movie, Rocky and Creed’s friendship comes to an abrupt end when antagonist Ivan Drago kills Creed in the ring.

Although Creed’s death forced him out of the movie series, Director Ryan Coogler used Creed’s role in the series to create a story in the new movie Creed.

In Creed, a young boxer by the name of Adonis Johnson (played by Michael B. Jordan) is a young and hungry boxer. As a child, Johnson never knew his father, Apollo Creed. He is told by many how great of a boxer his father was, but he wants to break out of his father’s spotlight.

Seeking to be the next great boxer, Johnson seeks out a former friend of his dad’s, Rocky Balboa, to be his new trainer. With the help of Balboa, Johnson hopes to one day get a heavyweight title shot.

Throughout Elder, there are some major Rocky fans. I recently sat down to interview senior Sam Williams, and found out that he owns all of the Rocky movies. When asked if he was looking forward to this new movie, Sam said, “You know, I’m really looking forward to seeing the movie. What I’m wondering though is why Rocky never trained his own son, Robert. In Rocky V he trained Tommy Morrison, now he’s training Creed’s son.” Maybe we’ll find out as to why Rocky has avoided that subject.

Another Rocky fanatic is Senior Chad Brinker. When asked about Creed‘s debut, Brinker responded saying, “I honestly can’t wait. This looks like an amazing movie. The plot seems absolutely brilliant.”

Now, this article wouldn’t be complete without interviewing arguably one of the biggest Rocky fans out there: Mr. Gergen. Mr. Gergen has seen all of the movies, and even ran up the famous steps in Philadelphia that Rocky ran up in the original movie. When asked what his favorite Rocky movie was, Mr. Gergen’s response was the original movie, Rocky I. Mr. Gergen loved Carl Weathers’ character Apollo Creed, and was excited to when he saw the trailer for Creed. 

When asked about his initial response to the trailer, Mr. Gergen said, “At first I was thinking, ‘not another one!’ However, after seeing the storyline and the way it ties into the old movies, I think it should be a really good movie.”

Personally, I can’t wait to see this movie. I grew up watching these movies and I will definitely be seeing this new one with my dad during its opening weekend. Whether it will be a hit remains to be seen, but Creed sure looks promising.