Image: Paramount Pictures
Ridley Scott’s sequel to Gladiator follows an epic rebellion against the Roman Empire.
Paramount Pictures has dropped a trailer for Gladiator 2, a sequel set 24 years after the original movie. Ridley Scott is returning to direct the sequel, which follows a grown-up Lucius (Paul Mescal)' opposition to the Roman Empire as an enslaved gladiator. The trailer teases a pretty epic sequel, pitting Lucius against humans and animals alike in large-scale Colosseum battles.
Watch the trailer below:
Paul Mescal fights Pedro Pascal in first Gladiator 2 trailer
Gladiator 2 follows Paul Mescal’s Lucius Verus, the son of Connie Nielsen’s Lucilla from the original movie. The trailer sees Lucius all grown up, and in league with Denzel Washington’s Macrinus, who seems intent on using him for his own ends. We see Lucius fighting in a massive battle against the Romans, which seemingly ends in his capture and imprisonment. Lucius then gets put into slavery and resolves to fight as a gladiator.
It looks like Lucius has taken the Roman Empire’s invasion of his home to heart, however, as he strives to rebel against the rule of the young emperors Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) and Geta (Joseph Quinn). While some of these beats are similar to the plot of the original film, it looks like this movie will mostly focus on Lucius’ attempt to take down the Roman Empire, inadvertently leading him into a confrontation with Roman general Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal), who trained under Maximus.
We also see some pretty epic arena battles, as befits a sequel to Gladiator. The Colosseum gets flooded for makeshift naval battles, complete with sharks swimming underwater to snap at gladiators getting thrown overboard. This appears to be a naumachia thrown by reigning emperors Caracalla and Geta, with the added twist of having sea creatures involved in the festivities on top of boats and gladiators.
Lucius is also forced to confront a very angry rhinoceros, and only barely makes it out of the scrape alive. Fun fact: this rhino sequence is something Ridley Scott tried to make work in the original Gladiator movie, before having to reluctantly cut it during pre-production due to high VFX costs at the time.
Gladiator 2 hits theaters on November 22, 2024.