Gladiator II

Summary

Gladiator IIcould give Lucius the chance to make an unfulfilled Maximus storyline amount to realisation after 24 years . Thestory ofGladiator IIhinges on Lucius , the son of Lucilla from the first movie . Lucius ' story inGladiator II ’s subsequence timelinetakes place around 12–15 years after the first movie and picks up with the character live a peaceful life with a wife and child on the northwest coast of Africa . However , he is dragged back into the turmoil of Rome ’s thrive conglomerate and begins a crusade of vengeance against Marcus Acacius , a romish general .

Lucius and Acacius are portrayed by Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal respectively inGladiator II ’s ensemble hurl , with the former essentially taking over from Russell Crowe as the protagonist ofGladiator . Crowe playedMaximus Decimus Meridius inGladiator , the Roman general who was forced to fight down in the Colosseum . Maximus ' story went through several twist and turns inGladiator , with one likely end game being unrealized in the film . Through Paul Mescal ’s Lucius , this unrealised write up could finally come to occur 24 years later .

Gladiator 2 Could End With Lucius Becoming The New Emperor

Lucius Has Familial Connections To A Past Roman Emperor

WithGladiator II ’s story positioning Lucius back under the glare of Roman Emperors , the flick could terminate with him taking his true billet as ruler . Gladiator II ’s pair of Roman Emperorsare need from material history , but Scott has never been one to be afraid to alter history in his picture show , as tell byGladiator ’s conclusion which intimate the potentiality of Rome becoming a republic . As such , chronicle could be changed once more , with Lucius taking duty as the leader of Romegiven his link to a character from the first pic .

This give Lucius a blood claim to become the Roman Emperor , potentially giving him more support in the senate …

In theGladiatorfilms , Lucius is the grandson of former Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius , played by the late Richard Harris . This gives Lucius a blood claim to become the Roman Emperor , potentially giving him more financial support in the senate . If this is the direction in which Lucius ' persona discharge go , the character could become the Roman Emperor by the oddment ofGladiator IIrealizing a plot line that did not happen in the first film .

Gladiator II Official Poster

The Original Gladiator Was Never Going To End With Maximus As Emperor

Maximus' Story Moved Him Away From Becoming Rome’s Emperor

InGladiator , Maximus Decimus Meridius also had a claim to become the Roman Emperor . Maximus was evince to be a good booster and trusted friend of Lucius ' grandfather , Marcus Aurelius . Aurelius wish to see Rome become a republic and demand Maximus to become Emperor after him for see these wishes fulfilled . However , Aurelius was wipe out by Joaquin Phoenix ’s Commodus , which unknowingly forced Maximus into a life of slavery as a prizefighter . Although Aurelius ' hungriness for Maximus to become Emperor render the latter a strong claim , he was unlikely to ever be elect , unlike certainGladiator IIcharacters .

Gladiator 2 Cast & Characters

doer Name

Russell Crowe as Maximus Decimus Meridius surrounded by a Laurel Wreath next to Paul Mescal as Lucius in Gladiator II (2024)

Custom Image by Lewis Glazebrook

Character Name

Paul Mescal

Lucius

Split image of Joaquin Phoenix (Commodus), Russell Crowe (Maximus) and Richard Harris (Marcus Aurelius) in Gladiator

Gladiator 2 is the follow-up to Ridley Scott’s award-winning film Gladiator from 2000. Scott returns to direct the sequel, with Paul Mescal staring as Lucius, alongside Denzel Washington and Joseph Quinn as the villain Emperor Geta. Gladiator 2 had been stuck in development hell for years before a script written by David Scarpa finally moved forward.

Pedro Pascal

Marcus Acacius

Denzel Washington

Paul Mescal and Russell Crowe side by side in the Gladiator movies

Macrinus

Connie Nielsen

Lucilla

Custom image of Lucius juxtaposed with Maximus wearing a armored mask in Gladiator.

Joseph Quinn

Emperor Geta

Fred Hechinger

Headshot Of Paul Mescal In The 77th British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs)

Emperor Caracalla

Unlike Commodus or even Lucius , Maximus had no blood connector to Marcus Aurelius . In the Roman Empire , inheritance and ancestry were incredibly important factors in who became Emperor , meaning Commodus always would have had a stronger claim to succeed Aurelius , regardless of his conniving schemes . WhileGladiatorraised the possibility of Maximus becoming Emperor and tease this storyline throughout , it was never realized as his character arc took him down a different path of revenge and Justice Department .

While there are seemingly obvious narrative reasons why Russell Crowe did n’t come back for Gladiator 2 , the full story is more complicated .

Headshot Of Pedro Pascal In The 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards

Gladiator 2 Can’t End The Same Way As The First Movie

Lucius Realizing Maximus' Emperor Teases Would Give The Two Films A Degree Of Differentiation

Not only does the possibleness of Lucius becoming Emperor inGladiator IIfit his character arc and make more sense than Maximus doing so inGladiator , but it would also profit the movie from a wider storytelling perspective . Based on what has been revealed aboutGladiator II , it is clear that the cinema is already similar toGladiator . Both Maximus and Lucius are characters who live lives of comparative repose before being wrong by someone high-pitched - up in the Roman Empire and being impel into a liveliness of conflict , wars , and gladiatorial scrap .

make Lucius ' case arc end with him becoming the Roman Catholic Emperor would giveGladiator IIa very different climax fromGladiator …

Similarly , Lucius is seeking retaliation against Marcus Acacius just as Maximus was against Commodus . Evidently , the story set - ups of bothGladiatorandGladiator IIhave a fortune of similarities . That order , making Lucius ' part arc terminate with him becoming the Roman Emperor would giveGladiator IIa very different orgasm fromGladiator . This would giveGladiator IImore credence for be as it is exploring something unlike from the first movie . WhileGladiator IIlooks fantastic , the story needs to stand on its own without simply copying its predecessor , something a unlike conclusion for Lucius would achieve .

Gladiator II

Your Rating

Your comment has not been salve

Cast

Gladiator 2 is the follow - up to Ridley Scott ’s award - succeed photographic film Gladiator from 2000 . George C. Scott give back to direct the sequel , with Paul Mescal staring as Lucius , alongside Denzel Washington and Joseph Quinn as the villain Emperor Geta . Gladiator 2 had been stick in development hellhole for old age before a script indite by David Scarpa finally moved forward .