‘Gladiator 2’ – Everything We Know About the Sequel Starring Denzel Washington and Paul Mescal
The sequel is set to arrive this fall—and the folks at Cinemacon got the first look. Here’s what we know about Gladiator 2.
Gladiator is one of those movies that just works—the plot is solid, the cast is stacked, and the production is filled with top-notch talent, from costumes to special effects. It brings back the feeling of grand movies of the 1950s—we didn’t think we’d get another Ben-Hur, but we did. It’s an excellent movie, an instant classic. The movie’s success kicked off an era of Roman stories—from HBO’s Rome to Starz’s Spartacus—and historical epics like Alexander, 300, and Troy.
I’m not sure if we really need a sequel, as the original has a great ending, but we’re getting one. It’s going to be hard to recapture what made the 2000 juggernaut so good. The cast is set, filming is done, and Ridley Scott is in the director’s chair. Back in 2021, he ordered a script to be ready by the time he finished with Napoleon. The man is 85. He can’t afford to take breaks if he wants to get his current slate of projects done.
Gladiator 2 Cast
The movie has a star-studded cast. Oscar-nominated Paul Mescal as Lucuis and Connie Nielsen is reprising her role as his mother, Lucilla. Derek Jacobi will be back as Senator Gracchus. Other named characters include Fred Hechinger as Emperor Geta and Joseph Quinn (aka Eddie from Stranger Things) as Emperor Caracalla. Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal are confirmed with no character names attached just yet.
Details on the story are sparse, but the casting gives some clues. While Russell Crow isn’t coming back (he’s dead, after all), there are familiar names on the cast list. Paul Mescal’s character is in the first movie – Lucius is the son of Commodus’s sister, Lucilla. He was just a boy when Maximus was fighting in the Colosseum. He and the gladiator met a few times, enough to make an impression on the boy who came to see him as a hero.
In the sequel, it’s possible the boy grows up to set aside the Roman throne and become a gladiator like Maximus. Choosing the life of a heroic gladiator to escape his uncle’s treachery and the corruption of Roman aristocracy makes sense. He could also become a soldier fighting across Rome. Given the two emperors, I bet that he’s in hiding either way. Descriptions of the first trailer tease both possibilities.
Hints from Cinemacon
The first trailer was screened for industry insiders during Cinemacon in Las Vegas earlier this month. Sorry, no sneak peek for us plebs, but you can read about it thanks to Variety.
Based on the footage that Scott brought to Sin City to share with cinema owners, “Gladiator 2” recaptures the first film’s epic sprawl and shattering action sequences. The teaser saw Mescal face off against a charging rhino, a horde of vicious baboons, and Pedro Pascal, among other threats to his chiseled physique. There were also naval bombardments, political intrigue aplenty — and a pair of diabolical emperors who seem even crazier than Joaquin Phoenix’s unhinged monarch from the first film.
Manipulating everything is Denzel Washington’s shadowy operator. He seems to be pulling the strings, intending to use Mescal as a blunt instrument as he looks to steamroll over an empire that’s gone seriously off the rails. “Rome must fall,” he says at one point in the footage. “I need only to give it a push.”
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Part of the promotion also included draping the Roman statues at Ceasar’s Palace with shields that revealed the film’s tagline—”What do in life echos in eternity?”—and logo.
There are photos of multiple huge sets circulating around the net right now—everything from a Roman farm to the iconic architecture of Rome. Star Joseph Quinn spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the weight of making a sequel to such a revered movie and how impressive those sets are in person.
“We all were very aware of the legacy of the first film. So many people get misty-eyed about it. So going anywhere near it again felt a little scary… I made sure that all of my family saw the [set of the] Colosseum. I think these experiences are very rare, and if you’re able to experience them with the people that put you here, that’s always a special feeling.”
We’ll all get a look at the sets and the action when Gladiator 2 debuts in theaters on November 22nd.
