Michael B. Jordan is reportedly in talks to star and direct the third film in Rocky spinoff franchise. This would make Creed III Jordan’s directorial debut. 

Creed III will be scripted by Zach Baylin, who also wrote the upcoming Will Smith tennis drama, King Richard. The third Creed film will continue the saga of Adonis Creed, son of Rocky Balboa’s former rival and friend, Apollo Creed. 

The first Creed, directed by Ryan Coogler, starred Jordan as the titular character. Before Creed, Coogler and Jordan had previously worked together on the film Fruitvale Station. The duo eventually worked together again on Black Panther, where Jordan starred as the antagonist of the film, Erik Killmonger. The second Creed was directed by Steven Caple Jr. and executive produced by Jordan back in 2018. 

Both Creed films received praise from critics and audiences. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first film earned an impressive critic score of 95% with 306 reviews, and an audience score of 89% with 76,064 user ratings. Ratings for the sequel dipped slightly, with it earning a critic score of 83% with 303 reviews, and an audience score of 80% with 5,632 user ratings. 

Jordan was last seen in Just Mercy, a biographical drama where he played a civil rights defense attorney working to free a wrongly condemned death row prisoner. Jordan is also set to appear as Navy SEAL John Clark in the upcoming action film, Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse, set to release sometime in early 2021.