Warning: This article contains spoilers for Samaritan!
Sylvester Stallone's superhero film, Samaritan, makes an incredibly subtle reference to the Rocky franchise, and the way it's delivered is perfect. Having built his cinematic reputation playing larger-than-life heroes who are apparently invulnerable, Sylvester Stallone doubled down on that typecasting with Samaritan. Samaritan follows Joe (Stallone), a man living in the economically-beleaguered Granite City, who also happens to be hiding a secret set of superpowers that Sam (Javon Walton) discovers and believes him to be the former hero, Samaritan.
Much of Samaritan's story focuses on the dynamic between Sam and Joe as the man reluctantly becomes a role model to the young boy. Not only does Joe's past comes to light, but Sam learns great deal about good, evil, and what it really means to be a hero in the process. Though Samaritan is essentially superhero Rocky or Rambo, the film does very little to reference any of Stallone's most iconic roles.
However, one small way in which Samaritan does reference the Rocky movies is secretly perfect, partly because of how subtle it is. After befriending Joe and believing him to be Samaritan, Sam asks the man to teach him to fight. A brief interaction between the two shows Joe teaching Sam the basics of how to fight, particularly taking his small size into consideration. In the scene, Sam demonstrates some impressive boxing ability, shadowboxing from a southpaw stance in a scene that's eerily reminiscent of Rocky. The use of boxing and the characterization of Sam's character as an underdog subtly references the Rocky movies - but not in the way that one might expect, because Walton is used to make the reference rather than Stallone himself.
Why It's Perfect That Javon Walton References Rocky (Not Stallone)
It's actually far better for Samaritan to use Javon Walton to reference Rocky, because not only does it make the nod seem far more subtle, but Walton's real life adds an extra layer to the reference. As well as building an impressive acting career, Javon Walton is also a boxer, which is why Sam is capable of showing off some technically accurate boxing skills while training with Joe. Walton's real-life boxing talent bleeds over into the moment, and Stallone's complimenting his ability rings true as a result.
It's not just in accuracy that the reference works, though. Samaritan's cast of characters spends a great deal of the film talking about how small Sam is, and he's characterized as a scrappy underdog with a hidden strength. This creates another parallel with the character of Rocky Balboa, further connecting the two films and making the reference work on yet another level. The fact that Walton boxes as a southpaw adds another coincidental layer to the Rocky nod.
Ultimately, Samaritan doesn't go out of its way to reference Rocky, and it's right to. Having Stallone deliver a line about boxing would have been too overt a reference and potentially could have felt shoehorned in, but by making use of Javon Walton's real-life boxing talents and writing in subtle parallels between Sam's character and the Rocky franchise's titular fighter, Samaritan's Rocky reference was incredibly subtle. Though Samaritan isn't a film that's likely to be remembered for its subtlety, the way it handled Javon Walton's character was a perfectly understated nod to Stallone's Rocky franchise.