Minor spoilers for Creed III lie ahead, so read at your own risk.
Michael B. Jordan notched another major box office hit in Creed III, which hit theaters back in March. The latest installment in the franchise masterfully continues the story of Jordan’s Adonis Creed while also further allowing the series to further remove itself from the shadow of Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa. It goes without saying that the movie is heavily influenced by the world of professional boxing. However, a certain basketball icon also had an impact on the threequel – Kobe Bryant. Jordan recently explained how that came to be, and the answer is very sweet.
The new movie shows off different aspects of Donnie, who’s grown a lot since he was introduced as the young and hungry fighter in Ryan Coogler’s 2015 film. What’s probably most delightful about him this time around is that he’s fully settled into his role as a father. He and Tessa Thompson’s Bianca are the proud parents of Amara (Mila Davis-Kent), who was born in the second installment. The clever little girl is now older, thanks to a time jump, and is incredibly close with her papa. It’s sweet to see Adonis embrace his latest title – “girl dad” – and we can chalk much of that up to Michael B. Jordan observations of Kobe Bryant and Jamie Foxx, which he discussed with IndieWire:
We were on the ‘Just Mercy’ tour and Kobe Bryant hosted a screening. And Jamie Foxx has a strong relationship with his daughter, who was into basketball, she was playing basketball. And Kobe’s sitting there talking about Gianna and basketball and the Mamba Academy and everything. And I just remember stepping out of myself for a second, and I’m looking at these guys that I have real admiration for and hearing them talk about their daughters. I was like, ‘Man, I’m pulling from all of this right now for the movie.’ I wanted to honor these kinds of relationships and what it means to be a girl dad.
There are plenty of things that we know about Kobe Bryant, who tragically died at the age of 41 in 2020. He was a fierce competitor, a five-time NBA, a generous philanthropist and is widely considered to be one of the greatest athletes of all time. Above all that though, he was also a devoted husband and father to four daughters. The Los Angeles Lakers legend always seemed incredibly proud of his kids and shared a particularly close bond with his daughter, Gianna, a rising basketball player. This is one of the reasons why it was so devastating to learn that she also died alongside him and seven others in a helicopter crash.
Though their absences are still felt by so many, it’s been wonderful to see how the public has continued to honor them as well as the others who lost their lives that day. Michael B. Jordan’s critically acclaimed directorial debut is another excellent example of that. It was very wise of the actor/director to take cues from the Black Mamba’s relationship with his children. Because he did so, Creed III has a very sentimental subplot that sees Donnie training his daughter, who wants to become a boxer. Those scenes are great and, with Amara on that path, some fans think the producers should wait at least a decade for another sequel. That way, the young lady can lead it herself.
I’d like to believe that Kobe Bryant would’ve been able to appreciate the passion and intensity packed into Michael B. Jordan’s latest movie. But it may have been the loving father/daughter relationship that might’ve touched him the most. It’s nothing short of inspiring to see men like Bryant, Jamie Foxx, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and others step up and be the men their daughters need. I think we can all agree that the world is better for having devoted girl dads.
Anyone who’s yet to see Creed III, one of the biggest titles on the schedule of 2023 new movie releases, can still catch it in a theater or rent it digitally now. And if you’re more of a basketball fan, I recommend Netflix’s The Redeem Team, which does Kobe Bryant justice in a myriad of ways.