Sylvester Stallone Shares His True Feelings Toward Dolph Lundgren Amid Drago Spinoff Fiasco

Everyone loves a good villain, and Dolph Lundgren, best known for his role as Ivan Drago in the "Rocky" series, has spent years crafting a relatable antagonist. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in 2021, Lundgren expressed his love for the character who skyrocketed him to fame and how he's enjoyed building up a complicated back story for him throughout his numerous series appearances. "[Drago] wasn't really an evil person; he was just a product of the system," he explained. "He's Frankenstein's monster. He's not Dr. Frankenstein; that was the Soviet Union." At the time, Lundgren hinted that a Drago-centric spinoff might be in the works. "By the way, I think there's some talk about doing a whole spinoff on Drago with MGM," he said. A year later, it looks like he got his wish.

In July, MGM announced the upcoming film "Drago," focusing exclusively on the soviet fighter. Fans are on board, Lundgren is on board, but one major name couldn't be less excited about the new direction the series is going and that would be troubled protagonist Sylvester Stallone. Stallone has either starred in, directed, and/or produced all of the films in the series, but the newest spinoff is rubbing him the wrong way and threatening his storied friendship with Lundgren. 

"Rocky" star Sylvester Stallone took to Instagram to share his feeling about the upcoming "Drago" spinoff. In a series of since-deleted Instagram posts, Stallone criticized series producer Irvin Winkler and others for moving forward with the project. "ONCE AGAIN, IRWIN WINKLER, this PATHETIC 94 year old PRODUCER and HIS MORONIC VULTURE CHILDREN, Charles And David, are once again picking clean THE BONES of another wonderful character I created without even telling me," Stallone reportedly wrote, per People. "RETURN MY RIGHTS BLOODSUCKERS!," he added in another post.

As the face of the films, Stallone has a complicated relationship with the series. He has openly complained about not having an "equity stake" in the franchise. "I have zero ownership of 'Rocky,'" he told Variety in 2019, adding that it made him "furious." A source close to Stallone told the outlet that, while he may not have "equity stake," the actor has made tens of millions of dollars from the films and its merchandise. "He made money from every angle, and still does," they said. "So I don't know what he's complaining about."

The news of the newest spinoff was too much for Stallone to handle. He even came out swinging at Dolph Lundgren, his longtime friend and collaborator. "By the way, I once had nothing but respect for Dolph but he NEVER told me about what was going on behind my back with the character I created for him!!!" he wrote, per People. "REAL FRIENDS Are more precious than gold."