Creed II Almost Featured Clubber Lang's Return

CBR

By Sam Stone

Published Nov 24, 2018

Creed II director Stephen Caple, Jr. reveals that Mr. T's Clubber Lang very nearly appeared in the film.

As Creed II continues to wow audiences around the world with iconic Rocky villain Ivan Drago making his return to the franchise, another rival boxer very nearly appeared in the sequel.

Director Stephen Caple, Jr. revealed that at one point during the production, he strongly considered including Mr. T's Clubber Lang in the film before deciding to just maintain the focus between Adonis Creed and Rocky Balboa confronting Drago and his son Viktor.

"There was a moment where I got pretty stingy and was thinking about Clubber Lang. I was like, 'Dang, wouldn’t it be cool if we brought in Clubber Lang?'" explained Caple in an interview with Uproxx. "I think there was a version of this where [Michael B. Jordan] was also talking about it too. Like him having a daughter or something like that out in the West or New Mexico. We were playing with a lot of different ideas. But no, I don’t know if Clubber Lang will come back."

Mr. T famously made his acting debut as Clubber Lang, the villain of 1982's Rocky III, delivering the iconic line "I pity the fool," in reference to an upcoming bout with Rocky. While Mr. T went on to great success on television in The A-Team, his character has largely vanished from the franchise following the film though Caple expressed an interest in bringing him back.

"He’s an interesting character. And just to see where he’d be at now, where they try make him grounded and seeing where Mr. T is at," mused Caple. "I love challenges like that. Trying to make Drago human. How to make Clubber Lang human. Like, where is he at today? Those are the interesting routes to go in developing characters."

Creed II is directed by Stephen Caple Jr. (The Land) from a script written by Sylvester Stallone and Juel Taylor. The film stars Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Dolph Lundgren, Florian Munteanu, and Phylicia Rashad. The film is out in theaters everywhere now.