Heroes do not become who they are in isolation. They become heroes by pushing against seemingly immovable objects that obstruct them and, of course, against other intransigent people. Our greatest political hero, President Abraham Lincoln, had to battle against Jefferson Davis and the Confederate army. Our literature’s first great epic hero, Achilles, had to confront Hector. Our greatest comic book hero, Superman, has to contend with Lex Luthor. And the character who is arguably our greatest modern movie hero, Rocky Balboa, must square off against the indomitable Apollo Creed. But unlike almost all other instances of hero formation, in the case of Rocky and Apollo Creed, the great antagonist ended up becoming a hero in his own right — and a hero who became almost as legendary as the figure he had been opposing. 

For four high-octane boxing films, Carl Weathers, who died this month at the age of 76, did not so much play Apollo Creed as incarnate him. With his sculpted, Greek-god-like frame, Lennox Lewis-like wingspan, and early-career Mike Tyson-esque aura of invincibility, Weathers’s ring presence in Rocky radiated intimidating physicality, menacing swagger, and an infectious charisma that made viewers feel as if Rocky was staring down nothing other than the second coming of Muhammad Ali. For writer and actor Sylvester Stallone, the casting of Weathers as Apollo Creed could not have been more perfect. It was Weathers’s Creed, more than anything else, that allowed Stallone’s Rocky to become a cinematic hero and, for the city of Philadelphia, an urban icon. And it was the inimitable role of Apollo Creed that allowed Weathers to go from a good if relatively unknown actor to a modern movie legend.