It’s another bloody power struggle for Rome’s future in Gladiator II trailer

[Karlston]

"What is the dream of Rome if our people are not free?"

Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal star in director Ridley Scott's long-awaited sequel, Gladiator II.

 

Ridley Scott's epic 2000 historical drama Gladiator was a blockbuster hit that has become a classic over the ensuing two decades, thanks to powerful performances and spectacular special effects—especially in the gladiator arena. The director has long wanted to make a sequel, and we're finally getting Gladiator II later this year. Paramount Pictures just dropped the first trailer, and it promises to be just as much of a visual feast, as a new crop of power players (plus a couple of familiar faces) clash over the future of Rome.

 

(Spoilers for 2000's Gladiator below.)

 

For those who inexplicably haven't seen the original: Russell Crowe starred as Maximus, a Roman general who leads his army to victory against Germanic tribes on behalf of his emperor, Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris). The aging emperor wishes Maximus to succeed him and restore the Roman Republic, passing over his own son, Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). Commodus secretly murders his father instead and proclaims himself emperor, executing Maximus' wife and son because Maximus would not acknowledge his rule. Commodus also harbors squicky incestuous longings for his sister, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), mother to Lucius (Spencer Treat Clark) and former lover of Maximus.

 

Maximus escapes his own execution and ends up being sold by slave traders to gladiator trainer Proximus (Oliver Reed), who tells him he can earn his freedom by "winning the crowd" during the gladiator games in Rome. And win the crowd he does. Who could forget the epic scene where the gladiators are forced to re-enact the Battle of Zama, when the Romans defeated the Carthaginians? With Maximus in command, the tables are turned and the "Carthaginians" prevail in the re-enactment. Maximus is ultimately able to exact his revenge by killing Commodus in the arena, dying himself to join his wife and child in the afterlife.

Gladiator II focuses on the grown-up Lucius, originally played by Spencer Treat Clark.

YouTube/Paramount Pictures

Gladiator received much critical praise, grossing $464 million globally and receiving 12 Oscar nominations. It won five: Best Picture, Best Actor (Crowe), Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, and Best Costume Design. Scott was already planning for either a prequel or a sequel the following year, with the idea for a sequel centered on an older version of Lucius, hinging on the secret of his biological father (strongly hinted to be Maximus in the first film). But when Dreamworks was sold to Paramount in 2006, the Gladiator sequel project was shelved. Paramount finally green-lit the project in November 2018 with a production budget of $165 million. (That ballooned to a rumored $310 million during filming.)

Strength and honor

Gladiator II does indeed center on Lucius Verus (Paul Mescal), son of Lucilla and former heir to the Roman Empire, given that his father (also named Lucius Verus) was once a co-emperor of Rome. Lucius hasn't been seen in Rome for 15 years. Instead, he's been living in a small coastal town in Numidia with his wife and child. Like Maximus before him, he is captured by the Roman army and forced to become a gladiator. Pedro Pascal plays Marcus Acacius, a Roman general who trained under Maximus, tasked with conquering North Africa. Although the young Lucius once idolized Maximus, Marcus Acacius apparently will be a symbol of everything Lucius hates.

 

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  Paul Mescal plays the adult Lucius, who becomes a gladiator just like Maximus before him.

  YouTube/Paramount Pictures

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  The source of Lucius' rage against Rome.

  YouTube/Paramount Pictures

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  Denzel Washington as Macrinus plots the fall of Rome.

  YouTube/Paramount Pictures

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  Pedro Pascal as Roman general Marcus Acacius.

  YouTube/Paramount Pictures

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  Connie Nielsen reprises her role as Lucilla.

  YouTube/Paramount Pictures

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  Bloodthirsty chuckleheads Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) are co-emperors of Rome.

  YouTube/Paramount Pictures

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  Looks like Marcus Acacius will end up in the arena, too.

  YouTube/Paramount Pictures

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  Battle! Marcus Acacius vs. Lucius.

  YouTube/Paramount Pictures

 

Nielsen reprises her role as Lucilla, who does not recognize her son when she sees him fighting in the arena as a gladiator. Derek Jacobi also returns as Senator Gracchus, who is opposed to growing corruption in the Roman court. Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger play young co-emperors Geta and Caracalla. While it's hard to imagine anyone topping Phoenix's stellar performance as Commodus, Quinn has said that Scott wisely advised him not to even try and to make the role his own instead. Alas, while Djimon Hounsou was originally slated to return as Juba, Maximus' BFF and fellow gladiator, he had to bow out due to scheduling conflicts. Denzel Washington rounds out the cast as Macrinus, an arms dealer who keeps a stable of gladiators.

 

The trailer opens with a voiceover by Lucius, remembering the fateful day he watched Maximum give his life to take out the conniving Commodus—the day that a slave took revenge against an emperor. He's talking to Macrinus and claims to not know where he was born, having never known a mother or a father. "You will be my instrument," Macrinus declares. We get the usual spectacle of crowds cheering at the Colosseum, "the greatest temple Rome ever built... because this is what they believe in: power."

 

Cue Pascal's Marcus Acacius, who tries to talk to co-emperors Geta and Caracalla about how Rome needs to feed its many subjects, only to have them declare, "They can eat war!" And war does indeed rage, even as Lucius and his fellow gladiators are being told how the arena turns slaves into gladiators and gladiators into free men. Macrinus tells Lucius his rage is his gift, and we see Lucius leading his fellow gladiators just as Maximus did before him. "Whose head could I give you that would satisfy this fury?" Macrinus asks. Lucius responds, "The entire Roman army." That's asking too much, but "the general will do"—i.e., Marcus Acacius.

 

As for Macrinus, his objective is nothing less than the fall of Rome, setting himself up to rule instead. We see Lucilla giving Lucius a ring that once belonged to Maximus, asking, "What is the dream of Rome if our people are not free?" And a disillusioned Marcus Acacius declares he will not "give up another generation of men" for the vanity of the two spoiled co-emperors. Naturally he ends up in the arena facing off against Lucius. We salute them both.

 

Gladiator II hits theaters in the US and Canada on November 22, 2024. It will premiere in the UK and internationally a week earlier on November 15, 2024.

 

Listing image by YouTube/Paramount Pictures

 

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