What we know about Gladiator II
Paul Mescal is playing Russell Crowe’s son
As all roads lead to Rome, so Gladiator II also sees a brave warrior forced into the arena to unseat effete rulers. This time round it’s Lucius Verus II (Mescal), who has been living peacefully in north Africa until a conquering army hastens his return home. There it’s revealed that he is actually the exiled son of Empressa Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), and his father is not the late Emperor Lucius Verus I but rather strapping martyr Maximus (Crowe).
Paul Mescal survives
Crowe might not have been so lucky, but Mescal’s character definitely doesn’t wind up fatally impaled by either sword or horn in Gladiator II, whose ending Scott has likened to that of The Godfather, “with Michael Corleone finding himself with a job he didn’t want, and wondering, ‘Now, Father, what do I do?’ So the next [film] will be about a man who doesn’t want to be where he is.”
Russell Crowe isn’t in it
There are flashbacks, but a no-ghost rule seems to be in operation for the new film, with Russell Crowe neither involved nor consulted. Co-casualty Joaquin Phoenix also fails to make an appearance and it seems unlikely Oliver Reed has been reanimated for the event. However, Derek Jacobi is back.
It might have been quite different
Ideas for sequels have been kicking around for more than 20 years. One concept that reached a fairly advanced stage of development was called Christ Killer, scripted by Nick Cave, in which Maximus is resurrected from purgatory and sent back to Earth to kill Jesus. He then gets stuck into the Crusades, the second world war and Vietnam before finding employment at the Pentagon. Despite Crowe’s enthusiasm, the idea was eventually scrapped by the studio.
Hello! How can I assist you today?