Michael B. Jordan is prepared for strangers to attempt to fight him in public following the release of Creed III.

The actor reprises the role of boxer Adonis Creed in the third instalment of the sports drama, a spin-off of the Rocky franchise, with the new movie also serving as his feature directorial debut.

During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday, Michael noted that he is anticipating more people trying to punch him following the film’s release on 3 March.

“Everyone’s gonna come up to me, you know, throwing the punch up, that’s going to be the thing. I used to see Sly do that all the time,” he said, referring to original Rocky actor Sylvester Stallone. “Now, I get it. People randomly coming up (and) smacking s**t off the table. (I’m like), ‘I’m trying to eat, what’s going on?’ (They say), ‘Adonis Creed, we meet again.’ (I respond), ‘I just met you, what are you talking about?’ But yeah, I’m looking forward to that.”

Elsewhere in the conversation, Michael shared how he spoke to other actor-directors, including Bradley Cooper, Jon Favreau, and Denzel Washington, in the lead-up to production.

Reflecting on his connection to Denzel, the star recalled how the Oscar winner insisted on setting him up with a storyboard artist.

“We were in the middle of rehearsal and he picks up his phone and he calls this guy and was like, ‘Hey, Warren, it’s D. Yeah, yeah, so remember that kid I was tellin’ you about? Yeah, well, he’s gonna hire you. Alright, cool,'” the 36-year-old remembered. “(It was) so crucial – just the shortlist and to really prepare, you know, what scenes you (are) gonna actually shoot and what (are the) shots that you actually need – storyboards were a lifesaver for me.”

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