In the world of Creed, nothing is black-and-white. Unlike some of the later entries in the Rocky franchise, nuance in some of the villains is something that is making a grand return. No one is pure evil or pure good, and it’s nice to see that reflected in the mainstream stories we see plastered on the big screen. It looks like this idea will be present in the representation of Ivan Drago in Creed II.

If you’ll recall, Drago was the main baddie of Rocky IV. An unstoppable boxing machine whose ruthless attitude led to the death of Apollo Creed and the eventual confrontation between him and Rocky. With him returning, what will his overall attitude be all these decades later? Well, life hasn’t been great since his loss all those years ago, actor Dolph Lundgren revealed to Empire.

“Basically, my character has been in a living hell since ’85 and lost everything. The script reintroduces him as a pretty damaged character, emotionally, and somebody who’s suffered a lot physically from a hard life. I can identify with that quite easily. The physical part [and] the emotional part.”

RELATED – Creed II Featurette Highlights New Director And Michael B. Jordan Doing His First Sequel

So while he looks to be something of a sympathetic character, don’t expect him to be anything but embittered by Rocky, whose defeat over him likely led to his rough life. It sounds intriguing, and this approach is exactly why Lundgren decided to return to the character.

“It’s become an iconic character. People quote him and have T-shirts. I didn’t want to mess with that image. I didn’t see a way, up until now, that it would work. But obviously now when I’m old enough, suddenly I work as a parent. The father-son concept was quite good because I had a violent relationship with my dad […] many men do and end up in contact sports.”

Are you excited to see Ivan Drago return in Creed II? Let us know down below!

Creed II punches its way into theaters on November 21, 2018.

Don’t forget to share this post on your Facebook wall and with your Twitter followers! Just hit the buttons on the top of this page.

SOURCE: Empire Online