Ivan Drago, the iconic antagonist from 1985’s Rocky IV is rumored to be getting his own spin off movie in the future. However, the original mind behind the Rocky series and the Rocky Balboa character, Sylvester Stallone, disapproves of this idea, calling the project “exploitation”.
Drago, a Soviet boxer and soldier, first appeared in Rocky IV back in 1985. In the film, he was portrayed as menacing and cold-blooded, killing Rocky Balboa’s friend Apollo Creed before being beaten by Balboa at the end of the film.
Drago is making another appearance in a sequel of Rocky’s spin-off series, Creed II. Still played by Dolph Lundgren, this time he brought his son, Viktor, to box against Apollo Creed’s son, Adonis, who is trained by Balboa.
Seeing the success of Drago’s return to the series, a plan is in motion to make ‘The Siberian Express’ his own film.
However, the man behind Rocky Balboa himself, Sylvester Stallone heavily disapproves of the idea. In a now-deleted Instagram rant, he called the Rocky producer, Irwin Winkler “pathetic” and labeled his sons Charles and David “moronic vulture children”.
“Another Heartbreaker… Just found this out…ONCE AGAIN , IRWIN WINKLER , this PATHETIC 94 year old PRODUCER and HIS MORONIC VULTURE CHILDREN, Charles And David , are once again picking clean THE BONES of another wonderful character I created without even telling me.”
“I APOLOGIZE to the FANS, I never wanted ROCKY characters to be exploited by these parasites.”
He also slammed his friend and co-star Dolph Lundgren for working on the film behind his back.
“By the way, I once had nothing but respect for Dolph but he NEVER told me about what was going on behind my back with the character I created for him !!! REAL FRIENDS Are more precious than gold.”
He further distanced himself from the spin-off with a now-deleted second post on Instagram, which portrayed Winkler as a blood-sucking vampire and his sons stabbing Stallone in the back.
He also shared photos of his Rocky character punching Drago, alongside the caption:
“After IRWIN WINKLER And FAMILY SUCK ROCKY DRY! Presumed to be the most hated, untalented, decrepited (sic), Producer in Hollywood and his cowardly children have found their next meal… Drago?”
“Throughout history so many artists in every industry ,recording , painting writing , you name it have been destroyed by these blood suckers, who have destroyed so many families , lining their pockets with other people work.. #parasite producers #exploited artists victims.”
After the buzz on the internet, Dolph Lundgren tries to calm the situation and claims that it’s all just a big misunderstanding. He also trying to get in touch with Stallone to clarify the press leak.
“Just to set the record straight regarding a possible Drago spinoff. There’s no approved script, no deals in place, no director and I was personally under the impression that my friend Sly Stallone was involved as a producer or even as an actor. There was a press leak last week which was unfortunate. In touch with Mr. Balboa – just so all the fans can relax…There ya go.”