Michael B. Jordan’s Creed III was a massive hit. From the day it landed in the theatres, the movie broke the record of earning the biggest opening in the franchise. While the first two films were not highly talked of, the third film has outshined its predecessors and other boxing movies in the process. The movie accumulated a total of $ 272.3 million worldwide at the Box Office.
Michael B. Jordan made his directorial debut in this film and did a fantastic job. The fight scenes featured in the movie were directly inspired by the renowned anime series, Naruto. The Black Panther actor has publicly acknowledged his admiration for the anime series and even paid a visit to the Pierrot Studio that has made his beloved ninja series, where he was given a special illustration for his love for the series.
Michael B. Jordan Received A Special Naruto Illustration
Recently, Michael B. Jordan visited Pierrot Studio, which has produced the Naruto series, and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. Since the actor is a massive anime fan and loves watching Naruto, Tetsuya Nishio, one of the designers in the series drew the actor a special Naruto illustration, which made the actor’s day more special.
Pierrot Studio shared this moment on their Twitter page, where the Without Remorse actor was holding the illustration with a wide smile and a thumbs-up similar to Naruto’s “Dattebayo” pose.
大の #NARUTO 好きで知られる俳優のマイケル・B・ジョーダンさんがぴえろに遊びに来られました！
NARUTOのキャラクターデザイナー・西尾鉄也氏の色紙をプレゼント！ pic.twitter.com/aXi7xAPrr6— 株式会社ぴえろ (@studiopierrot) May 22, 2023
Over the past few years, Naruto has gained immense popularity, as fans love watching the series around the globe. People at first loved watching the series because it told the story of Naruto, who was weak and annoying but never gave up on his dreams. However, the series started booming when Naruto’s loyalty to his village and his dreams were shown in the Naruto Shippuden series, which continues after the event of the original Naruto series.
Moreover, unlike other anime series where only heroes are graced with character development, here, both the heroes and villains are developed as the story continues, which makes it more enjoyable to watch.
Michael B. Jordan Was Inspired By Several Anime Series For Creed III
Michael B. Jordan is an anime fanatic and he is not embarrassed to acknowledge it, as he has stated on several occasions. The actor shared that the fight between Adonis Creed and Damian Anderson in the third installment of the CreedVerse is based on the conflict from Naruto. The fans of the anime series know how layered and complicated the storyline of the series is, fans believe that the final fight between Jordan’s Creed and Majors’ Anderson was a tribute to the characters of the series, Obito Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake.
While fans were busy finding connections between the film and anime series, Michael B. Jordan shared, he was also inspired by other series like Hajime no Ippo and My Hero Academia. The connections were evident, as fans could see the intricated movements in Jonathan Majors’ on-screen character. While the slow-motion scenes of the boxers’ gears and their brutal punches reminded the viewers of Attack on Titan.
The inspiration from Naruto could be seen again after the final fight, as Creed and Anderson dapped their index and middle finger to form a Seal of Reconciliation, a gesture used in the NarutoVerse where the characters use to signify the end of a sparring match. The gesture also denoted the end of the conflict between Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki after the Fourth Great Ninja War, and it denoted a similar meaning in the third installment of the Creed as well.
Naruto can be streamed on Netflix.
Source: Studio Pierrot
