The Creed franchise comes to a potentially satisfying conclusion with “Creed III,” another boxing movie with heart and a successful directorial debut for star Michael B. Jordan.

Will there be a Creed IV? There were at least half a dozen Rocky movies, after all. And “Creed III” has done very well at the box office so far. Whatever Hollywood decides, “Creed III” gets the job done as another emotionally charged film in this very popular franchise. The characters are still charming, the boxing matches are exciting and the new villain packs a real punch.

If you’ve enjoyed the Creed movies so far, you’re bound to like this threequel as well — though fair warning, Sylvester Stallone doesn’t make an appearance in this one.

In the new film, Adonis Creed has retired at the top of his game as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, but then a ghost from his past returns in the form of Damian Anderson. The two were childhood best friends until Damian went to prison for nearly 20 years for a crime both boys took part in, and now he’s out and hungry for his own shot at glory.

“Creed III” has heart. Just like all the Rocky and Creed movies before it, the new film knows where to land a punch in terms of both emotional character development and really engaging boxing bouts. It’s exciting, as always, to watch our hero rise to the challenge and take on his new foe in the ring.

That new foe, Damian, really carries the story. Played by actor Jonathan Majors, Damian has both strength and a deep, troubled core to his character. He works as both a violent, dangerous foe and someone to feel sorry for, someone that our main characters can connect with to tell a good story.

Likewise, actor Michael B. Jordan easily inhabits his character again, this time adding a larger family dynamic to the movie. Adonis Creed is a father now, and the scenes of his family together are almost as much fun as the boxing. Jordan also directed “Creed III,” his directorial debut. He does a fine job in telling his story with his own sense of flare.

The only real issue with “Creed III” is that I felt it could have dug deeper on some of its stories and some of its emotional beats. As good as the new villain is, he still comes out of nowhere, with no mention of him in the earlier films. And the movie doesn’t find any really new or creative ways to handle the confrontation, at least storywise. Jordan’s direction does bring some new style, but it all really does come down to some standard hero vs. villain boxing.

Ultimately, “Creed III” is deep enough and exciting enough to make for both a really good film and a nice end to the story, if this is where they decide to end things.

“Creed III” is now showing in theaters and is not yet available to stream at home.

For more discussion of the film, tune in to the Sentinel Cinema podcast at www.RomeSentinel.com/podcasts.