Anime Fanatic Michael B. Jordan Infused His Love Of Naruto Into Creed III

As far as long-running franchises go, "Rocky" is the gift that just keeps on giving, While the original series boasts six films with varying degrees of quality, the franchise has since been rebooted to focus on Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), the son of famed Rocky opponent Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers).

Though Adonis was coached by Balboa himself in the first two "Creed" films, "Creed III" sees the young athlete out on his own as he takes on a former childhood friend who has since become his rival. When ex-con Damian (Jonathan Majors) begins to intimidate Adonis and suggest that everything the champion boxer has belongs to him, the stage is set for a bout between the two powerhouse performers that promises to be legendary.

If this notion of childhood friends-turned-rivals facing off with everything on the line sounds like the set-up for an anime plot to you, you're not alone. In fact, Jordan himself says he put some of his love for anime into his "Creed III" performance.

Speaking to Polygon about his love of anime in relation to "Creed III," Michael B. Jordan mentioned that he drew from "Naruto: Shippuden" for a simultaneous punch between Adonis and Damian in the film, though he conceded that the punch has been done a few times in other anime as well.

"That punch is Naruto and Sasuke," Jordan explained. "But that punch has happened a few times in anime. It happened in 'Dragon Ball Z' also, between Goku and Vegeta. But for me, [the Creed III scene] was about the relationship between two brothers, so the relationship between Naruto and Sasuke was where the inspiration for that relationship kind of stemmed from," Jordan concluded.

Rivalries are a key part of storytelling in shonen anime. From Deku (Daiki Yamashita/Justin Briner) and Bakugou (Nobuhiko Okamoto/Clifford Chapin) in "My Hero Academia" to Eren (Yuki Kaji/Bryce Papenbrook) and Jean (Kisho Taniyama/Mike McFarland) in "Attack on Titan," while these rivalries often start as full-on hatred, they find their way around to begrudging respect or even a blossoming friendship in the end.

Still, with the intensity of the emotions on display in "Creed III," it's difficult to parse out whether Damian and Adonis will be able to find that kind of common ground following their blistering battle in the sports action film. Viewers can find out for themselves, when the movie releases on March 3rd.