Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II is one of the most anticipated releases on the 2024 movie schedule, and rightfully so. Its predecessor is one of the best movies of the 2000s and the cast the director has assembled for the long-awaited sequel is top-tier. Speaking of the ensemble, there’s already Oscar buzz surrounding them and this movie. After first reactions to Gladiator II rolled in, many are singling out Denzel Washington’s performance as trophy-worthy, which makes me very happy.
As I said, the cast of Gladiator II is epic as it is led by Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn and Connie Nielsen. However, the legend of the bunch is unquestionably Denzel Washington, and it would appear he reiterated that point with his performance in this film. While early posts about the project applauded the ensemble and the grand scale of it, the Training Day actor was specifically mentioned in many cases as the Oscar contender, with folks like @JillianChili writing:
Engrave Denzel Washington’s name on the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for GLADIATOR 2 right this instance.
In the new movie, Washington plays Macrinus, “an arms dealer who supplies food for the armies in Europe” and is a “very wealthy man,” Scott told Vanity Fair. The Gladiator II trailers also reveal that he seems to play a big role in Paul Mescal’s Lucius’ journey as a gladiator too. To be frank, he seems like a smooth-talking gangster in ancient Rome, and he’s so cool!
According to @bsha0517, that sentiment is true, and the actor steals basically every scene he’s in as they explained:
Gladiator II has Denzel Washington stealing every scene, making the Oscars race his to lose. Ridley Scott's back with a bang, and it's not just epic, it's Oscar-worthy. Washington's performance? Pure magic.
I could feel that “pure magic” just by watching the trailer, so I can’t imagine how great he is in the entire film. Also, knowing that Washington is going all out for Gladiator II makes things even better, because if he’s having fun, we’ll likely have fun too. In fact, even if you don’t love the film, which was @mavericksmovies thoughts, you will be enthralled by the actor’s performance no matter what as he wrote:
#GladiatorII lacks the focus and emotional punch of the original, and Mescal isn’t quite as captivating a lead here as Crowe was in the original, but it’s overflowing with memorable action and it’s got Denzel stealing the movie in soon-to-be-one of his most iconic performances
So, I guess we should be adding Gladiator II to the list of Denzel Washington’s best movies and engraving his Oscar. To restate that point @The_Summerman hilariously posted:
just saw Gladi2tor and yea... Denny Wash second Oscar confirmed 😭
It’s not just the Oscar the Fences actor might take home either, @ByClaytonDavis noted that he could finally get the recognition he’s deserved his whole career because of this film. He wrote:
Denzel Washington could be positioned as the new favorite to take it all for #GladiatorII. At a minimum, he might also be able to clinch his first BAFTA nomination after more than 50 films and countless snubs.
So far, Washington has nine individual acting Oscar nominations and two wins – Glory and Training Day are the films he won trophies for. (Fences also landed him a 10th nomination for Best Picture.) Considering he’s one of the greatest actors working right now, that number feels a little low. However, based on these reactions, it sounds like he’s on his way to another nomination and maybe --hopefully -- a third win.
Now, to see if all this hype is lived up to (which, I’m 100% sure it will be), you can catch Gladiator II in theaters starting November 22.
