That sequel saw Apollo Creed killed in the ring by Russian boxer Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), with Rocky later facing the Russian giant for revenge. Drago himself became an iconic movie figure and made Lundgren a movie star, but the monosyllabic boxer was more of a walking symbol of the Soviet Union than a person.
Ivan Vasilyevich Drago (Russian: Иван Васильевич Драго, pronounced [ɪˈvan vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪdʑ ˈdraɡə]; Ukrainian: Іван Васильович Драго) is a fictional Russian character from the Rocky film series.
Florian Munteanu (born 13 October 1990), also known by his ring name Big Nasty, is a German actor and boxer. He is known for his role of the boxer Viktor Drago in Creed II (2018) and Creed III (2023), and Razor Fist in the superhero film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021).
This allowed Viktor to finally punch Adonis down on the floor, but this only gets him disqualified for hitting him while he was down, resulting in Adonis remaining as the current holder of the title.
Andre Ward as Danny "Stuntman" Wheeler: A heavyweight boxer and Adonis' rival whom Adonis beats to become the heavyweight champion. Brigitte Nielsen as Ludmilla Vobet Drago: Ivan's ex-wife and Viktor's mother who left the pair during the latter's infancy. Nielsen also reprises her role from Rocky IV.
The 76-year-old actor said in an interview that he did not participate in the filming of the movie because the story had been given a direction with which he did not agree. "That's a regretful situation because I know what it could have been," Stallone told THR about disagreeing with the new film's tone.
She is a Soviet gold-medal swimmer who is the ex-wife and spokeswoman to Soviet captain Ivan Drago. Compared to Ivan himself, she is more despicable as she abandoned him after he lost to Rocky Balboa, and later appeared to have gone unchanged when interacting with her own estranged son Viktor.
Munteanu kept it simple to get in shape for Creed II, too. Before prepping for the movie, he weighed in at a hefty 250 pounds. As Viktor Drago, he's a slimmed-down 225. Here are his three secrets to getting ready for the silver-screen ring.
Creed 3 took a new direction for the franchise, featuring the original character, Damien Anderson (Jonathan Majors), as its central antagonist. Ivan's son, Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), who was the main antagonist of Creed 2, was also present in the film as a supporting character to Adonis "Donnie" Creed (Michael B.
Viktor is a more sympathetic character in Creed III, working tirelessly during training to help Donnie persevere at the moment he questions his ability to keep going. By repeating a lot of Rocky III's storyline, Viktor is driven to help a former enemy he has come to see as an ally and a brother in arms.
Meaning:Precious. Drago is a Slavic boy's name meaning “precious.” Drago is a variation that originates from names like Dragoslav, Dragomir, and other names with the element drag.
Italian: nickname from drago 'dragon'; or, in some cases, from a personal name, a continuation of Latin Draco, Draconis, from draco 'dragon'. This surname is also found in southern France. Variant of Dragoo , a surname of French origin.
Munteanu — and therefore Viktor — has similar stats, which is a little intimidating considering we're talking about a real person and not a fictional boxer that the Soviets basically grew in a lab. He stands 6'4” and actually lost weight for the role. So he “only” weighs 245 pounds.
Summary. Creed 4 is unlikely to feature Stallone due to the direction the franchise is heading. Rocky's absence in Creed III indicates the franchise's shift beyond Stallone's involvement. Stallone's return to the Rocky franchise could revitalize his career and appeal to newer audiences.
Stallone opened up about his absence, explaining that Creed III took a different direction than he would've taken it. "It's a different philosophy... I like my heroes beat up, but I just don't want them going into that dark place. I just feel people have enough darkness."
In 2018, she reprised her role of Ludmilla Drago from Rocky IV in Creed II. In 2022, she joined the cast of TV Series The Guardians of Justice, when she played Anubis Queen.
Born in Los Angeles, California, Amara inherited her mother's progressive hearing disorder and was born deaf. This diagnoses broke her parents' hearts, as Bianca lamented Amara would never appreciate her mother's love of music, and Adonis thought life was hard enough as it is.
He seems to be a very pitiless and cold-hearted person as shown when he comments on Apollo Creed's death: "If he dies, he dies", indicating that Ivan feels no remorse (deep regret or guilt for a wrong committed) for his actions.
But when he can't stop his hands from shaking after the fight with Drago, doctors confirm that all the fights and blows to the head have taken their toll on Rocky; he has suffered brain damage and is told to stop fighting if he wants to continue living.
