Sylvester Stallone posted a tearjerker of a video to his Instagram, in which he gives a speech at a bonfire surrounded by Creed II cast and crew, saying goodbye to the family and suggesting that he’s done with playing the part of Rocky Balboa.
“This is probably my last rodeo. What has happened I never expected. I thought Rocky was over in 2006 and I was very happy with that,” Stallone says to the assembled group, referencing the year Rocky Balboa came out. “Then all of a sudden this young man presents himself, and the whole story changed. It went on to a new generation, new problems, new adventures. And I couldn’t be happier because as I step back, because my story has been told, there’s a whole new world that’s going to be opening up.” He then embraces Michael B. Jordan, the new star of the Rocky franchise’s latest, highly successful iteration.
For those of you doing a spit take and insisting No, Rocky’s story can’t be over, Creed II (which came out earlier this month), does nicely wrap things up for old Balboa.
We already knew from the first Creed that the 72-year-old actor’s boxer was suffering from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. In the sequel, he comes back to help Adonis Creed properly train for a fight against Viktor Drago, son of Ivan who killed Apollo Creed way back in Rocky’s ‘80s days.
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But when that fight’s resolved, Rocky finds some larger closure by reuniting with his own estranged son and meeting his grandson, reflecting the arc of Adonis, who grew up without his father and has a baby in Creed II. It’s a fitting way to send Rocky into glorious retirement life.
“I just want to thank everyone around the whole wide World for taking the Rocky family into their hearts for over 40 years,” Stallone captioned his video. “It’s been my Ultimate privilege to have been able to create and play this meaningful character. Though it breaks my heart, Sadly all things must pass... and end. I love you Kind and generous people , and The most wonderful thing of all , is that ROCKY will never die because he lives on in you ....”
So yeah, at least Rocky isn’t fully dead. And as for famous retirements, we all know how Jay-Z’s went, so don’t be shocked if Balboa has another act.
This article originally appeared on Men's Health
