In the first Creed we learned that one of Rocky’s former boxing opponents had a son, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), and it fell to Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) to mentor and mould him into a great boxer like his father. Now we learn another of Rocky’s former opponents has a son: this time it’s the son of the Russian iceberg Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), and Creed must step into the ring against him.

Although the new character’s ancestry is from the schlockiest of the Rockies (IV, if anyone’s counting), this film continues the path of its immediate predecessor, balancing operatic drama in the ring with engaging drama outside it.