We may not have seen the last of Dolph Lundgren as Ivan Drago just yet. After the boxer gave Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa the fight of his life in the acclaimed sequel Rocky IV, it appeared that we’d never see that character again, even though he made quite an impact on pop culture. Fans were treated to the return of Ivan Drago in Stephen Caple Jr.’s Creed II, which saw Ivan serving as a mentor to his son Viktor (Florian Munteanu).
There was a lot of footage shot for Creed II that wound up on the cutting room floor, and this includes a confrontation between Rocky and Ivan. This would have been an interesting nod to their famous Rocky IV bout, showing that there’s still some animosity between both characters all of these years later. Looking back at the deleted scene, Dolph Lundgren tells THR that it may work out as there apparently some conversations at MGM about a Drago spinoff.
Nothing is set in stone about this Drago project, but either way, Lundgren’s performance in Rocky IV will always be remembered fondly by fans. Lundgren also opened up on the backstory he had for Ivan Drago when filming the movie and said he was eager to see the deleted material featuring the character in Sly Stallone’s extended cut Rocky v Drago: The Ultimate Director’s Cut.
“I thought it was a good moment. It was also a fan moment. It was a quick little fight, and I thought it worked. But the director [Caple] and MGM felt that it was extraneous and that it didn’t add anything. By the way, I think there’s some talk about doing a whole spinoff on Drago with MGM. So you may get more of that.”
Dolph Lundgren and Sylvester Stallone have also just reunited for the upcoming action sequel The Expendables 4. That movie puts Jason Statham’s Lee Christmas into more of the central role, but a handful of franchise stars do return, Lundgren and Stallone among them alongside Randy Couture. Stallone has also suggested he’s finished with the Expendables franchise after wrapping his work on the sequel.
“When I played the character, I did a backstory about how he was brought up by the state and they controlled him. He didn’t have much say. He wasn’t really an evil person; he was just a product of the system. He’s Frankenstein’s monster. He’s not Dr. Frankenstein; that was the Soviet Union. So I always played that, and some of that came across in ’85. Sly and I are friends, but now, I guess he wanted to show the other side of the character. So I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.”
Meanwhile, Lundgren has been hard at work on another role reprisal. He will be back in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and the actor teases that fans will love it as it’s “stronger and it’s more exciting” than the original. James Wan directs the sequel which also brings back Jason Momoa to play the titular superhero. The movie is set to be released in theaters on Dec. 16, 2022. You can read the full interview with Dolph Lundgren at The Hollywood Reporter.
