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Creed and Rocky on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Adonis Creed and Rocky Balboa take in the view from the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Photo: MGM

Rocky Road

For nearly 40 years, Rocky Balboa has been a fixture in cinema. After six previous movies — all portrayed by the same actor — Creed puts Rocky in a unique niche within movie history. It’s also interesting to note 2015 marks the first time the Rocky, James Bond and Star Wars franchises each have a new movie released in the same year — and all within a matter of weeks of each other.

Rocky, 1976
Rocky II, 1979
Rocky III, 1982
Rocky IV, 1985
Rocky V, 1990
Rocky Balboa, 2006
Creed, 2015

Harrison Ford has played Han Solo in four movies (and in one ill-conceived TV holiday special) during the course of 37 years (taking a lengthy 32-year break between Episode VI and Episode VII). As with Indy Jones between Last Crusade and Crystal Skull, the ravages of the real time lapsed between movies will be acknowledged in The Force Awakens.

A New Hope, 1977
The Star Wars Holiday Special, 1978
The Empire Strikes Back, 1980
Return of the Jedi, 1983
—The Phantom Menace, 1999
—Attack of the Clones, 2002
—Revenge of the Sith, 2005
The Force Awakens, 2015

Granted, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Frank Oz and Peter Mayhew represent a sort of “droid, Jedi and Wookiee clause.”

Ford has also played Indiana Jones in four movies (and in one TV episode) during the course of 27 years.

Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, 1984
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, 1989
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, 1993
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, 2008

The typical shelf life for a James Bond actor is around 10 years. Daniel Craig’s Bond is the first to have a broad character arc across movie installments and to acknowledge the effects of aging, changing technology and an unsettled world.

Between 1974 and 2015, five actors have played James Bond.

Roger Moore