Sylvester Stallone Strongly Hints ‘Creed 2’, ‘Rocky IV’ Crossover: Will Dolph Lundgren Be Back As Ivan Drago?

Sylvester Stallone is strongly hinting that his upcoming movie, Creed 2, will be connected to his 1985 Rocky franchise entry, Rocky IV. In a series of social media posts, Stallone is either feeling extremely nostalgic or is strongly teasing that the next film from the Rocky franchise will be tied to the fighter that killed Apollo Creed in the Soviet Union more than 30 years ago.

Stallone has posted multiple Instagram images from Rocky IV that feature boxer Ivan Drago, the character played by Dolph Lundgren who ultimately killed Rocky’s rival-turned-trainer Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) in the 1985 action film. Most notably, Sylvester shared a photoshopped image of Creed character Adonis Creed, (Apollo’s son, played by Michael B. Jordan in the 2015 film) and an ’80s era Dolph Lundgren about to go at it in the boxing ring. Sylvester Stallone is watching the fantasy fighters from outside the ropes.

But it was Stallone’s caption that is even more interesting.

“Here’s a chance to stretch your imagination,” Sylvester captioned the picture.

“HISTORY WILL ALWAYS REPEAT ITSELF IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER, JUST GOT TO BE READY! … Sins of the Father…. #creed2.”

Dolph Lundgren also shared the photo on his Instagram page with this caption.

“Stay tuned – life works in mysterious ways! #CREED2 #ivandrago #slystallone.”

The posts come after Stallone posted several other throwback images from the hit 1985 movie.

According to Entrainment Weekly, reps for Sylvester Stallone and New Line Cinema have not commented on the possibility of the Creed-Rocky IV crossover. But it appears something is definitely in the works for the sequel to the Golden Globe-winning 2015 film and based on the social media captions, it could possibly involve Drago and his son.

Fans may recall the ending to Rocky IV, which had Rocky (Stallone) comparing the animosity over his fight with Drago to the animosity between Soviets and Americans. The film ended with the Soviet General Secretary even warming up to the champion U.S. boxer.

But behind-the-scenes, Stallone admitted he had a love-hate relationship with Lundgren, who actually hit him so hard while shooting the film that he landed in the hospital. During An Evening with Sylvester Stallone panel in England, Stallone admitted that he encouraged Lundgren to really try and knock him out in one of their fight scenes, but the blow came so hard that Sylvester felt like he had been in a car crash.

“He hit my heart so hard that it banged against my ribs and started to swell, and that usually happens in car accidents. So I was hit by a truck!” Sylvester said.

Stallone revealed that he was later put on an emergency jet back to the U.S. and he was in intensive care for five days.

In an interview with Men’s Health, Lundgren also reflected on the story, saying he had no idea he had hurt Sylvester. He also admitted the movie was his first foray into acting.

“When I got cast in Rocky IV, I had never seen a film camera before,” the Arrow star revealed.

“And here I was in this boxing movie. I knew I’d signed on to play a Russian fighter, but I didn’t know what the hell that meant. I’d never fought anyone in a movie before. I’d fought plenty of people in the ring, but not for a movie.”

Lundgren explained that he was just “one of 5,000 other guys doing a cattle call audition” and that he had to audition with real Russian fighters and wrestlers for screen tests. Dolph also admitted that when he finally read the script for Rocky IV, he tried to identify with the Drago character, who was “innocent and out of his element” while being used by the communist system.

“I understood what that was like, especially being this new kid in Hollywood,” Dolph said.

Dolph Lundgren pointed to his favorite Rocky IV scene in which Drago is lifted into the arena by the hydraulic stage and is introduced to the world for the first time.

“What Drago was feeling and what I was feeling were so similar in that moment,” he said. “I was just a kid, trying to look like I belonged there, like I was comfortable, but in my head I was like ‘What the hell is going on here?'”

You can see Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren facing off in Rocky IV.

[Featured Image by Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images]