Heading into the second half of the 2024 movie schedule, there are those movies that the world awaits with bated breath. And any time Gladiator II is mentioned in the company of the cinematically inclined, there’s more than likely an air of cautious optimism that fills the air. That atmosphere is about to change, for better or worse, as the first trailer for Paramount and director Ridley Scott’s legacy-quel has now shown us Paul Mescal in action. And that includes him facing off with a Rhino, as well as all-out Roman war. Let's break it all down.
Freshly unleashing hell on the world, the first public look at Gladiator II’s majesty, and to be clear, we’re lightyears away from Nick Cave’s wild reincarnation concept. The movie is set decades after the original, and there's still a big class war happening between slaves and those in power. Paul Mescal's Lucius Verus was inspired by how Maximus killed Joaquin Phoenix Commodus, and has spent years living in the wilderness.
Previously, returning co-star Connie Nielsen teased Gladiator II as a “magnificent spectacle,” and no that’s not only being directed towards Paul Mescal and his totally buff physique. Her character Lucilla is featured a number of times throughout this first trailer, including passing down Maximus' ring to Lucius. Clearly she doesn't realize that's actually her son as a grown man, and it should be interesting to see their relationship play out in front of us.
Speaking of Paul Mescal’s efforts getting ripped, that work has clearly paid off. Even in the first photos from Gladiator II made that abundantly clear, with the all grown up Lucius feeling the sand like his late mentor Maximus would. I mean, that's a shot that's so iconic, you could put it on a teaser poster. And if you look below, you'll see Paramount Pictures knew the assignment, and killed it:
The first Gladiator had some thrilling action, and it looks like Ridley Scott is going to continue that. While the first movie featured Maximus fighting off Tigers, this time the big animal foe is a Rhino. And that's not including all the war sequences we're shown, and the man on man battles that'll occur within the Colosseum.
Of course, we could go on and on about our new hero, but the Gladiator II cast is so impressive, we need to talk about some of the other folks we’ve seen in action here. That includes Joseph Quinn's Geta, one of the new emperors in charge of Rome. He and his brother are seemingly without feeling for the common people, and are happy to starve them out as they fight a war. Then there's Denzel Washington's Macrinus, who is charge of the gladiators. Although from the footage it looks like he might have bigger plans in motion for the sequel.
Some of this exciting footage we knew was coming, as Gladiator II’s CinemaCon footage offered a sneak peek for those lucky enough to attend the event. But now that we can all witness the epic action and ties to Ridley Scott's original movie, anticipation for the blockbuster is no doubt going to pick up.
Gladiator II prepares to usher in another era of strength and honor, starting November 22nd. Should those words have you primed to revisit Russell Crowe’s classic predecessor, you can currently stream Gladiator through several sources, including through a Paramount+ subscription.
