The film sees the accomplished and recently retired boxer Adonis Creed (portrayed by Jordan) come face-to-face with his childhood friend and former boxing prodigy Damian Anderson (Jonathan Majors).

Tessa Thompson, Jonathan Majors, Wood Harris, Mila Davis-Kent, Florian Munteanu and Phylicia Rashad also star.

A third Creed film was officially announced in September 2019, alongside Jordan's return; he was also confirmed to be making his directorial debut in October 2020.

Majors and the remainder of the cast joined between November 2021 and September 2022; Creed III is the first film in the series not to feature Sylvester Stallone reprising his role as Rocky Balboa, though he is credited as a producer.

Principal photography began in January 2022 and lasted until that April, with filming locations including Los Angeles, Tampa, and Georgia.

In 2002, Los Angeles, Adonis "Donnie" Creed sneaks out with his best friend and brother type figure, Golden Gloves champion "Diamond" Dame Anderson, to watch him compete in an underground boxing match.

In the present day, three years after beating "Pretty" Ricky Conlan to avenge his only career defeat, Donnie has retired from boxing to focus on his wife Bianca and their 6-year-old daughter Amara, whose hearing impairment has since led the family to become fluent in American Sign Language.

Donnie runs the Delphi Boxing Academy with Tony "Little Duke" Evers Jr. and is promoting his protégé, world champion Felix "El Guerrero" Chavez, in a match against Viktor Drago.

After her funeral, Donnie confesses to Bianca about the night of Dame's arrest, revealing Leon to be the abusive caregiver in their group home before he was adopted.

Sports television personality Stephen A. Smith, news anchor Jessica Holmes, boxer Canelo Álvarez and his wife Fernanda Gómez, and singer Kehlani make cameo appearances as themselves.

Also appearing as themselves are: boxing referees Kenny Bayless, Russell Mora and Tony Weeks; ring announcers Jimmy Lennon Jr. and David Diamante; and broadcasters Todd Grisham, Jessica McCaskill, Al Bernstein, Mauro Ranallo, and Christopher Mannix.

In December 2018, in response to the suggestion that Deontay Wilder could play the son of Clubber Lang in a potential sequel to Creed II (2018), Sylvester Stallone and Michael B. Jordan expressed interest.

[11][12][13] Producers had expressed interest in having Jordan serve as director, with Irwin Winkler stating that he had personally offered the position to the actor.

[17] In April 2022, it was announced that Wood Harris and Florian Munteanu would reprise their roles from previous Creed films, and Selenis Leyva, Thaddeus J. Mixson, Spence Moore II, and Mila Davis-Kent joined the cast.

[citation needed] Jordan said the fight choreography was heavy influenced by anime series such as Megalobox, Naruto Shippuden, Hajime No Ippo, and Dragon Ball Z.

[4][3] In the United States and Canada, Creed III was released alongside Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Swordsmith Village and Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, was projected to gross $38–40 million from 4,007 theaters in its opening weekend.

The website's consensus reads: "Stepping out from Rocky Balboa's iconic shadow at last, the Creed franchise reasserts its champion status thanks to star Michael B. Jordan's punchy direction and a nuanced heel turn by Jonathan Majors.

[38] Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter praised the fighting sequences and said: "If we take its claims at face value, Creed III is a rousing success, a slick, cool and inspiring narrative about boxing's prince trying to defend his title and honor.

"[43] Chicago Sun-Times's Richard Roeper gave the film three out of four stars, writing "What makes Creed III a consistently engrossing watch is the gritty and violent back story, and the present-day tension between two former best friends whose lives were forever changed by a single confrontation that went sideways and who now have been reunited after nearly 20 years, with one man on top of the world and the other about two degrees from reaching the boiling point as he simmers with rage and resentment.

[50] When asked about the future of the Creed movie franchise in an interview with ScreenRant Plus, Jordan said: But you will see the Creed-verse continue to grow and expand.

[51]In November 2023, producer Irwin Winkler confirmed that a fourth film was in active development, with Jordan returning as director.