Article content continued

Munteanu adds: “Sly and Dolph were in incredible shape for Rocky IV, but I think we’ve topped that … wait until you see us.”

Along with a small group of international journalists, we caught up with Creed II’s big bad to find out what we can expect from the sequel.

Rocky IV was a huge movie for the franchise and Creed II is going to rekindle that rivalry. What does that mean to you?

To sum it up quickly, it’s like a dream come true. I’m very honoured and thankful to be part of this movie. This was part of my childhood. I think everyone grew up with Rocky, so it’s unbelievable to be part of this.

What can you tell us about the storyline?

All I can say is the fans can expect a very emotional storyline — on both sides. There are going to be a lot of surprises when it comes to Team Drago. We won’t be the typical villain or the typical villain team that people are expecting.

Creed II could have probably been about a lot of different things, but the fact is, it’s going to tie in with this earlier storyline from possibly the best Rocky movie. What do you think of making a sequel that links directly to Rocky IV?

I think it’s a great idea. Like you said, it’s maybe the best of the Rocky movies. So fans are going to love it. But to be honest with you, there’s not so much a connection to the earlier movie when it comes to the vibe. When they first created Creed, they wanted to go along a different path. It’s still the same franchise, but they wanted to create a different vibe around that movie and they’re following that for the second one. There is a connection because the villain of an older Rocky movie is coming back, but Creed II definitely stands on its own.