‘Rocky IV’ at 40: Sylvester Stallone says Carl Weathers deserved an Oscar for his death scene; the 1985 blockbuster is back in theaters this week courtesy of Fathom Entertainment.

It was the punch heard ’round the world. Forty years ago, the Master of Disaster himself, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), hit the canvas and didn’t get up — knocked into the next life by Russian boxing machine Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren). Creed left behind a devoted wife, a couple of kids — including one we didn’t know about… yet — and one very pissed-off Italian Stallion.

A seminal moment in sports movie history, Apollo’s death is at once both the best and the worst thing about Rocky IV, back in theaters this week courtesy of Fathom Entertainment. Originally released over the Thanksgiving holiday in 1985, the fourth installment remains remains the highest-grossing entry in Sylvester Stallone‘s career-defining franchise. Fathom is specficially screening Stallone’s 2021 director’s cut on Nov. 5 and Nov. 9, which adds additional footage to Apollo’s defiant last stand in the ring — as if watching Drago punch him into oblivion the first time around wasn’t difficult enough.

Granted, Rocky IV‘s writer-director-star didn’t take the decision to kill off such an important character lightly. “It was a tough thing to do,” Stallone tells Gold Derby now. “Rocky depends on bouncing off of the other characters, otherwise he has no one to articulate with. I thought killing Apollo was going to make people really angry at Drago, but it also sabotaged me because I couldn’t replace him!” (Weathers died in 2024.)

If Apollo had to go out, at least he goes out in style, his last night on Earth kicking off with a sequence that’s a glorious poster child for ’80s excess. Since he’s fighting Drago in Las Vegas, Creed treats the crowd to a show, bringing out James Brown as his opening act. As the Godfather of Soul rocks out to “Living in America,” Apollo — clad in an Uncle Sam-themed robe and boxing trunks combo — joyously dances along while also taking the time to taunt his stiff Russian rival.

That swagger carries over into the first round of their exhibition match as a muscular Weathers moves swiftly around the ring, looking like the Apollo Creed of old. But then Drago unleashes a powerful right hook and the fun abruptly stops. As blow after blow connects with Apollo’s head and body, the former champ’s attitude pivots on a dime, his confidence replaced by the recognition that he’s looking death in the eye (of the tiger). Rather than literally throw in the towel, though, he makes Rocky promise to let him go the way of a Roman gladiator — a decision that haunts Balboa for the rest of the rest of his life.

Speaking about Apollo’s death four decades later, Stallone says he did propose some alternate options to Weathers. “I told Carl, ‘I could have given you a bad back or something — put you on crutches for a while and kept you around,'” he remembers. And killing off Creed precipitated a wave of losses in Rocky’s life: his beloved wife Adrian (Talia Shire) died offscreen in between the fifth and sixth Rocky movies, while her brother Pauley (Burt Young) followed in the nine-year gap that separated Rocky Balboa and Creed. Stallone says those deaths were also “really tough” to write, joking: “I want to do a movie called Flashback on the Rocks!”

Speaking with NPR in 1988, Weathers made it clear that he wasn’t thrilled about Apollo’s exit at the time. “Not in a million years would I have wanted to be written out,” the actor said. “As much as I resisted in the beginning, I realized that there was a great opportunity because … the character is immortalized in the ring in the movie. And then by that character dying … Carl Weathers has a chance to go on and live in other roles because once the character is dead. If you got to die, what a wonderful afterlife that is.” Creed is also now survived by Michael B. Jordan‘s Adonis Creed, who has successfully extended the Rocky franchise to a new generation of fans.

Asked if he thinks Weathers deserved an Oscar for his Rocky IV death scene — or any of the Rocky movies — Stallone instantly agrees. “He was really good; Best Supporting Actor, c’mon! Also in Rocky II, he was incredible in that. But he was really great in Rocky IV; when I did the re-edit, there’s so much stuff in there. He should have gotten recognized, just like Burgess Meredith and Bill Conti. I relied on those people for support.”

Both Conti and Meredith were at least recognized with Oscar nominations for the first Rocky, representing two out of the nine nods that the 1976 classic received. Additionally, Stallone and Shire were contenders for Best Actor and Best Actress, losing to Network‘s dynamic duo of Peter Finch and Faye Dunaway in those respective categories. But Rocky did emerge triumphant by the end of the 12-round evening with wins for both Best Director and Best Picture.

These days, Stallone is still throwing haymakers as the star of Taylor Sheridan‘s Paramount+ hit, Tulsa King, where he’s about to go toe-to-toe with another acting heavyweight: Samuel L. Jackson. “It’s like a heavyweight prize fight,” he says of welcoming the Pulp Fiction star — who is also overdue for an Oscar — to the show. “You’re just sitting in your corner, thinking ‘What’s your opponent going to be like?’ I’ve known Sam for 30 years, but when he comes on set, he has a certain walk and voice, and he developed his character. Sparks happen.”

And just like a vintage Rocky training montage, those sparks may just set your heart on fire.