Sylvester Stallone has announced Florian ‘Big Nasty’ Munteanu will be playing Ivan Drago’s son in ‘Creed II’.
The 71-year-old action legend took to Instagram to reveal the 27-year-old Romanian boxer has been cast in the highly anticipated sequel to the hit 2015 movie – which starred Michael B. Jordan as the titular pugilist.
Writing on the photo sharing site, Stallone captioned an image of Munteanu: "Congratulations to Florian " Big Nasty" Munteanu for getting the part as IVAN DRAGOS son! 27 years old, 6 feet four, 245 pounds of talent. #mgm #creed #creed2 (sic)"
Munteanu reposted Stallone’s announcement and said it is a "huge honour" to land the role in "such a big movie".
He wrote: "Now it’s very official!!! I’m so happy and thankful to announce that I will play IVAN DRAGO’S son in CREED II
"A huge honor to play in such a big movie directed by @stevencaplejr next to@officialslystallone, @michaelbjordan & @dolphlundgren. Can’t even describe my feelings in words right now … But I’ll promise you this … I’ll work my ass of to make this movie unforgettable. Huge thank you to @eduardirimia & the @superkombat Academy for making a dream come true. And of course to my parents and brothers at home, without them this would have not been possible.
"EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE IF YOU BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND WORK HARD. #creed #creed2 #bignasty #drago (sic)"
Both Stallone and Jordan are set to reprise their respective roles in the upcoming sequel which will be helmed by Steven Caple.
Last July, Stallone teased ‘Creed 2’ would be inspired by ‘Rocky IV’ and shared a photoshopped movie poster in which Adonis stands toe-to-toe with Russian boxer Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) who was responsible for killing his father Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) in the ring in the 1985 classic.
‘Creed’ was a spin-off and sequel to the hit ‘Rocky’ film franchise, in which Stallone portrayed heroic boxer Rocky Balboa six times.
Stallone appeared as the Italian Stallion in ‘Creed’ and was responsible for training Adonis, the son of heavyweight champion Apollo – Rocky’s most famous opponent – who was portrayed by Weathers in the first four ‘Rocky’ movies.