Sylvester Stallone casting Dolph Lundgren in Rocky IV saved and improved the original concept planned for Ivan Drago. In 2021, Stallone re-edited Rocky IV to improve upon his original 1985 film with 40 minutes of new footage. The result is Rocky IV: Rocky Vs. Drago, a more dramatic version of the film that restored the themes and ideas Stallone originally intended in 1985. Sly’s friend John Herzfeld simultaneously filmed the documentary, The Making Of Rocky Vs. Drago: Keep Punching, where Stallone revealed his original plan for Rocky IV, which was changed by his casting Dolph Lundgren as Drago.
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The original idea Stallone had for Drago was “an ape… a giant Neanderthal… huge… primitive, terrifying…” But when Herzfeld met Lundgren and gave Sly his headshot, Stallone was so impressed by Dolph’s look, he immediately reconceived Drago and the Rocky IV script. The new, Lundgren-inspired Drago became “the future… perfect, intelligent, flawless” to contrast how Rocky “not perfection… He’s awkward, he’s smaller, he’s flawed…” The new Drago became about “science… He’s evolved 1,000 years where man should be…”, and Stallone’s theme was this man symbolizing the future vs. Rocky, who would use naturalistic training to fight Drago. It was a smart thematic shift by Stallone, but he regrets how these themes were lost in the original Rocky IV’s glossy montages because of his immaturity as a filmmaker.
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Stallone Kept Changing His New Drago Concept For Rocky IV

Stallone continued to be inspired by Dolph Lundgren as he further reconceived Ivan Drago in Rocky IV. Lundgren is extremely intelligent; he’s a chemical engineer and a Fulbright scholar in real life. Stallone wanted Drago to be equally intelligent and vocal. Sly wrote a great deal of dialogue for Drago in the original Rocky IV script. But Stallone quickly realized that Dolph’s imposing mystique as Drago was diminished the more he spoke. His solution was to slash Ivan’s dialogue to preserve the mystery of the Russian giant. Unfortunately, Drago’s character was lost as a result.
However, Dolph Lundgren’s look and performance in Rocky IV are so iconic as Ivan Drago that he still became a popular and unforgettable villain. Yet Stallone wanted to regain the intelligent Ivan he originally foresaw, so his edits in Rocky Vs. Drago gave the towering Russian fighter back some of his humanity and gave more hints at the mind behind the muscle. There are indeed more indications that Ivan is a more complicated and intriguing man in Rocky Vs. Drago as opposed to the silent monster in the 1985 Rocky IV.
Drago Wasn’t Really A Villain In Stallone’s Rocky IV Plan
Ivan Drago is best known for killing Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) in the ring, and he still murders the charismatic ex-champ in Rocky Vs. Drago. But Stallone’s director’s cut restores another important aspect of his original Drago concept: Ivan was a victim of and was manipulated by the Soviet government. Drago was intended as a Soviet recruitment tool for their technologically advanced program, and he was seen as a puppet who must do as he was told. With a cocktail of steroids to enhance his strength and his high-tech training regimen, Ivan was led to believe by his Soviet masters that he could never be beaten.
Sylvester Stallone reedited Rocky Balboa’s climactic fight with Ivan Drago to better convey how the Russian came to realize that he was fed lies by his superiors. In 1985’s Rocky IV, Drago pridefully turns and announces he’s fighting “for me!” But in Rocky Vs. Drago, as Ivan gets hurt and is unable to put Balboa away, he learns he isn’t everything his masters said he was. After all, if he is as superior as they claimed, why couldn’t he beat the “inferior” Rocky? Stallone’s idea that Drago wasn’t really a villain but was used by the Russians comes through more clearly as he’s defeated by Balboa in Rocky Vs. Drago. And Dolph Lundgren’s Russian endures as a much better idea than Stallone’s original Drago concept.
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