Rocky Balboa, 2006's revival of Sylvester Stallone's signature franchise, almost included Mr. T's Clubber Lang, but the cameo fell through. The Rocky series has produced many iconic characters from Rocky himself, to Apollo Creed, to Ivan Drago, and more. Another entrant on that elite list is definitely Clubber Lang, who served as the main antagonist of 1982's Rocky 3. A rare villainous turn for Mr. T, Clubber was a formidable and ferocious foe, and wiped the floor with Rocky in their first title bout.
That said, Clubber Lang never got to return for any future Rocky sequels, and had he done so, it's possible his status as a villain might've been lessened. After all, by Rocky 3, Rocky's original rival Apollo Creed had become a close friend. Any professional athlete would probably admit that going to battle with a worthy opponent often leads to mutual respect forming between the combatants, and that may well have been the case for Rocky and Clubber if Mr. T's character had stuck around.
It turns out though that fans were finally supposed to learn what happened to Clubber Lang, after decades of mystery surrounding what became of him after dropping the world championship back to Rocky at the end of Rocky 3. This was to occur in Rocky Balboa, which sought to erase the memory of the panned Rocky 5 and get the franchise back on track. It did that, but sadly, without Mr. T.'s involvement.
Clubber Lang Almost Appeared In Rocky Balboa (Why He Didn't)
An early version of Sylvester Stallone's script for Rocky Balboa saw Clubber Lang return quite the changed man. Now retired from the fighting game, Clubber was going by his given name of James, and had become a born-again Christian. He even had aspirations of becoming an evangelist, which fits Mr. T as well, who's well-known to be a very religious man. In the meantime, Clubber would've been working as a boxing analyst, similar to how former world champion George Foreman took up commentary after his retirement.
Clubber's role would've been interesting, as he described the ins and outs of fighting Rocky Balboa while Rocky himself was in the ring with a new opponent. Considering that Clubber once beat Rocky, his analysis on that front would probably be quite insightful. Statements publicly made by Mr. T in 2005 suggested that he was open to returning as Clubber Lang in Rocky Balboa, but according to Stallone in this archival interview with Ain't It Cool News, the issue came down to money, suggesting they couldn't afford his desired salary for the role. At the same time, Stallone seems a bit tongue in cheek in that interview, so it's unclear if he was being 100 percent serious regarding the reason Clubber got written out. Either way, Mr. T is still around, so perhaps he could finally come back in Creed 3.