After years of killing it on both the big and small screen, Michael B. Jordan is set to make his directorial debut with Creed III. As anticipation mounts for the series’ third installment, we here at VIBE can’t help but look back at the 2015 cover star’s best moments on screen, surely paving the way for his future in running the show behind the scenes.
As Jordan, 36, has been acting since a teen, it was difficult to narrow down his defining roles, with longtime fans remembering the heartthrob from shows such as Friday Night Lights and Parenthood, as well as fave flicks including Fahrenheit 451 and Red Tails. For this list, however, we’ve chosen to highlight five career-defining roles that undoubtedly influenced his transition from starring in to helming his latest work.
Check out Michael B. Jordan’s best roles below and watch Creed III in theaters Friday, March 3.
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Wallace - 'The Wire'
Image Credit: YouTube Screenshot While Jordan made his small screen debut in a Season 1 episode of The Sopranos, the young Jersey actor’s breakout television role was that of Wallace on another iconic HBO series, The Wire.
Playing the 15-year-old “Pit” drug dealer, Jordan drew empathy from fans thanks to his guilty conscious following the death of Brandon Wright (Michael Kevin Darnall), leading him to quit the drug game and inform on his crew. As a result, Wallace was killed by his comrades under the direction of Stringer Bell (Idris Elba).
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Oscar Grant - 'Fruitvale Station'
Image Credit: Screenshot While The Wire introduced Jordan to television audiences, the actor made his mark on the big screen with 2013’s Fruitvale Station, based on the last day of Oscar Grant’s life.
The Oakland, Calif. man was killed in 2009 by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officer Johannes Mehserle.
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Adonis Creed - 'Creed'
In 2015, MBJ took on a part that would come to be synonymous with the actor, embodying the role of Adonis Creed, son of Apollo Creed of classic boxing film series, Rocky.
The illegitimate son of Apollo, Adonis channels his childhood struggles into his dream of becoming a pro boxer himself, seeking out Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) to train and mentor him.
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Erik Killmonger - 'Black Panther'
Image Credit: Screenshot. Jordan’s portrayal of Marvel villain Erik Killmonger made several fans of the highly-successful film root for the “bad guy,” as the anger fueling his character was largely seen as justified rage and a brilliant contrast to T’Challa’s (Chadwick Boseman) unwavering nobility.
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Bryan Stevenson - 'Just Mercy'
Jordan ventured back into the world of biopics with Just Mercy, a 2020 film where the actor portrays attorney Bryan Stevenson.
The film is based on Stevenson’s 2014 memoir of the same name documenting his time defending Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), a Black man who had been wrongfully convicted of the murder of a young white woman in 1980s Alabama.