A brand new poster has dropped for Creed II, the long-awaited sequel to the critically acclaimed and commercially successful 2015 hit (and continuation of the Rocky franchise), Creed, starring Michael B. Jordan as the titular boxer.

Though the original was written and directed by Black Panther's Ryan Coogler, he will serve merely as an executive producer this time around. Instead, Steven Caple Jr. (The Land) has taken the helm on a script co-written by Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker and Sylvester Stallone. Just yesterday, Stallone teased the release of the first Creed II trailer and poster on Instagram, but ended up removing his post. Now we know why as the first poster debuts, and teases the trailer will actually arrive tomorrow rather than today.

Released by MGM and Warner Bros, the black and white poster offers audiences a glimpse at an intensely focused (and jacked) Michael B. Jordan. It also hints at the back-to-basics motif seen throughout the Rocky saga that is reportedly set to permeate this movie, creating an almost ominous tone in keeping with the apparent themes and weighty material of the film. Take a look at the poster below.


Stallone will reprise his role as the legendary Rocky Balboa. As will Tessa Thompson as Adonis's love interest, Bianca. And Dolph Lundgren, as Ivan Drago. The character of Ivan was last seen in Rocky IV, wherein the soviet boxer was infamously responsible for the in-ring death of Rocky Balboa's friend and Adonis's father, Apollo Creed. Drago's son will also have a role, likely as the "opponent with ties to his family's past" mentioned in the Creed II synopsis. Real-life Romanian boxer Florian Munteanu will play Viktor Drago, the son of Ivan who will no doubt face off against Adonis Creed in Creed II.

The complicated relationships between fathers and sons, as well as the nature of legacies, is not something new to productions associated with Coogler. Not only was the rich material key to Coker accepting the job when it was offered to him, but it was widely regarded as one of the reasons he wanted to develop Creed in the first place. Most recently in Black Panther, these themes ran front and center, through both the dynamic of T'Challa and T'Chaka, as well as fueling the conflict between T'Challa and Erik Killmonger. Still, since Coogler isn't directing Creed II, and is involved only as an executive producer, it remains to be seen how Caple Jr. picks up the threads and themes of Creed and runs with them in the sequel. We'll find out more when the first trailer for Creed II drops at some point tomorrow.