Sylvester Stallone's opinion on Rocky's Ivan Drago spin-off is wrong, partly because it seems to contradict his thoughts on the franchise at large. Sylvester Stallone and the Rocky franchise have gone hand in hand for a long time. Stallone created the character back in the 1970s, and his work on the script even earned him an Academy Award nomination. Stallone insisted on playing the lead himself, and it paid off in a major way, catapulting him to global success as one of Hollywood's biggest action stars.
The Rocky franchise hasn't proceeded without its ups and downs, but it's a beloved staple of sports cinema and is widely credited with popularizing modern sports dramas. As the franchise wore on, the Rocky movies became more unrealistic, culminating in the gloriously implausible Rocky Balboa in 2006. However, the success of the spin-off sequel Creed movies marked the reintroduction of realism to the Rocky franchise. Shifting the focus onto the illegitimate son of Apollo Creed, Adonis (Michael B. Jordan), allowed for Stallone to step into a supporting role, with Balboa acting as the younger Creed's trainer. The popularity of the Creed movies has renewed interest in the franchise, but it's also proved that Rocky still has exciting stories to tell that don't focus solely on Balboa.
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However, news of a planned spin-off centered on Rocky's biggest rival Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) proved upsetting to the franchise's creator. Sylvester Stallone criticized the Drago spin-off announcement, taking to social media to call out the film's producers for not including him in their plans. Upset that he wasn't consulted regarding the intended new direction for the franchise, Stallone leveled criticism at the idea, clearly hurt that his role in creating the characters and their stories was seemingly disrespected by the decision. Though his upset is justified, his recent stance on the Creed movies actually makes his feelings about the Drago spin-off somewhat hypocritical, because he's already indicated that his place in the franchise has come to end.
As Stallone created both the characters of Rocky Balboa and Ivan Drago, his criticisms of the planned project are reasonably justified. Stallone is rightly annoyed about the Drago spin-off because without him, the characters would never exist, and so far he has shaped their stories in line with his own creative vision. The announcement of a Drago spin-off without Stallone's involvement comes at a time when many screenwriters are winning the rights to the characters they have created - Friday the 13th writer Victor Miller was awarded the franchise rights after a lengthy court battle, and the screenwriting duo behind Predator were recently engaged in a rights dispute which has since been settled. The Rocky franchise has also had similar issues regarding the rights to its titular character, with Stallone being vocal about his disappointment at not owning Rocky's movie rights. The announcement of a spin-off that Stallone wasn't even aware of only fuels that controversy even more: he created Ivan Drago, and his frustration and disappointment are perfectly natural.
Though it's clear that Stallone is upset that he wasn't consulted on the Drago spin-off, his opinions on the future of the Creed franchise make his stance a little hypocritical. As Stallone himself has insisted that he will not be appearing in the upcoming Creed III, it seems that the franchise will have to move on without Stallone's continued presence. This is actually good news for the franchise - Stallone admitted that his absence from the upcoming sequel comes as a result of there being no organic way to include the character in its story, indicating that he knows it's time for him to move on from Balboa.
Although Stallone's Creed III comments are an encouraging sign for the franchise's future, they contradict his outrage about the Drago spin-off. Stallone stepping away from Creed III came with the admission that he believes the film's writers will do a good job with its characters, effectively handing the reins of the franchise over. However, where it comes to the character of Ivan Drago, Stallone doesn't seem ready to do so. It's most likely down to the fact that Stallone doesn't seem to have been consulted at all on the idea, but even so, the stark contrast between his stances on the respective spin-offs means that they don't match up at all.
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As Stallone has admitted that Balboa's place in the franchise is coming to an end, it's not unreasonable to assume that the Winklers (who hold the rights to Rocky) believed that to be a sign that the time was right to better explore Ivan Drago's redemption story. Though it's easy to understand Stallone's distaste for the project, his comments regarding allowing Creed to continue with his blessing seemingly indicate that the franchise's creator is open to the input of others for Rocky's future, and that's likely what prompted the announcement of a planned Drago spin-off. What's more, Rocky not appearing in Creed III marks a huge shift in the franchise, making now the perfect time to explore other characters' stories. Though Stallone may not like that he wasn't involved in that decision, he's been quietly distancing himself from the Rocky franchise for years. The announcement of a spin-off coming during the production of the first movie not to feature Stallone hardly seems coincidental, especially as Rocky's creator is taking a less hands-on role in the franchise.
With Rocky not returning for Creed III, now seems as good a time as any for the Rocky franchise to explore stories that are independent of the titular character. Though proceeding without consulting Stallone might seem unfair, his input is actually worth less now than ever before. Stallone has made major missteps with the franchise in the past - such as Rocky V or even Rocky IV's unnecessary robot - and his reduced role in recent years proves that the franchise doesn't actually need him. After all, Creed and Creed 2 breathed new life into the franchise, and neither was directed by Stallone (in fact, Stallone didn't even have a hand in the writing of Creed, and served as co-screenwriter for the sequel). With Creed now the future of the Rocky franchise, and Stallone's role in it dwindling, the need to consult him seems less pressing than ever.
Of course, though involving Stallone in a spin-off focused on a character he created may not be entirely necessary, doing so seemingly without his knowledge is insulting. Stallone is largely responsible for the Rocky franchise's massive success, and as the creator of Ivan Drago, the idea that the spin-off could have been made without his approval feels disrespectful. Though Stallone may not own the rights to the Rocky franchise, he's clearly not ready to relinquish the right to an opinion - although he appears to have already contradicted himself on that front.