Michael B. Jordan's boxing gear in Creed 3 features an anime detail you may not have noticed

Creed 3 includes a subtle anime reference that you may not have noticed. More specifically, one of Adonis Creed's boxing get-ups, which features a reference to the movie Akira.

Designer Raphael Phillips, who worked on the movie, tweeted: "So, [costume designer Lizz Wolf] hits me one Sunday afternoon in 2021 and was like: 'Raph! Michael [B. Jordan] loves anime so much, what if we pitch him some Akira inspired shorts?' We took inspo from the design lines of Kaneda’s classic fit, and he loved it."

Kaneda is the protagonist of Akira, the 1988 Japanese animated action movie set in a dystopian version of Tokyo in the then-future year of 2019. Directed by Katsuhiro Otomo and based on his manga of the same name, it follows the leader of a biker gang whose childhood friend gains telekinetic powers after a motorcycle accident and threatens to destabilize the military rule of the city. 

The pictures attached to Phillips' tweet show that Kaneda's trademark red outfit heavily inspired the red shorts that Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) wears when he faces Ricky Conlan (Tony Bellew), his opponent in the first Creed movie, for a rematch in the ring.

Jordan, the star of the Creed series who also stepped behind the camera to make his directorial debut for the third movie, has been vocal about anime such as Naruto inspiring the film's fight scenes. When defining the relationship between his character Adonis and the boxer's new rival and childhood friend Damian (Jonathan Majors), Jordan told Polygon that he looked to titles like Dragon Ball Z, My Hero Academia, and Fullmetal Alchemist.

Creed 3 is in cinemas now. For more viewing inspiration, check out our picks of the best upcoming movies on the way in 2023 and beyond.