in 2018, lundgren reprised his role of ivan drago from "rocky iv" in "creed ii", the sequel to "creed". he played an older, impoverished drago in the film, which also introduces the character's son, viktor. this marked the beginning of what new york magazine has described as lundgren's "comeback." also that year, lundgren co-starred in the dc extended universe film "aquaman", from director james wan, as the underwater king nereus.