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Paul Mescal swings a sword masterfully in the first trailer for Sir Ridley Scott’s long-awaited Gladiator 2, which shows naval battles and a brutal rhino fight in the ring.
There’s also a brief glimpse of Russell Crowe’s original lead character Maximus at the start of the three-minute trailer, throwing the new movie back to its origins and showing it intends to honour those.
‘I remember that day,’ recalls Mescal’s character Lucius as he visits a tribute honouring Maximus with the old gladiator’s weapon.
It then cuts to clips from Gladiator showing Crowe prepare for his fateful fight in the arena and Spencer Treat Clark as the young Lucius watching him.
‘I never forgot it – that a slave could take revenge against an emperor,’ he adds, as it cuts back to Mescal’s Lucius, with his head covered in blood, as he shares the memory.
It’s then revealed that he is talking with Denzel Washington’s gladiator sponsor Macrinus, who declares he will use Lucius – who does not know either of his parents – as his ‘instrument’.
From Gladiator, we know that Lucius is the son of Connie Nielsen’s Lucilla, who was a former lover of Maximus.
In the trailer, the two are shown meeting in the bowels of the arena, with Lucilla telling him: ‘This ring belonged to Maximus. Now I give it to you.’
Confirming the rumours of huge spectacle in Gladiator 2 – which is officially titled as Gladiator II – the Colosseum is seen filled with water to recreate epic ocean-based clashes, with Lucius performing in them for the entertainment of corrupt co-emperors Caracalla and Geta, played by Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger.
‘Rome has so many subjects – she must feed them,’ Pedro Pascal is seen urging as Marcus Acacius, a Roman general said to have trained as a junior officer under Crowe’s character.
He is also set up to fight against Mescal in a bid to curb Lucius’s rage as Macrinus asks of him: ‘Whose head could I give you that would satisfy this fury?’
‘The entire Roman army’s,’ he responds, with Macrinus chastising that this is ‘too much’ – before the one-on-one combat against Acacius is arranged.
Other exciting things glimpsed include a female gladiator, as well as Lucius coordinating a fearsome fight with a blood-soaked, growling rhino who charges at him, knocking him into the air.
Quinn’s Emperor Caracalla also recreates Joaquin Phoenix’s famous thumbs down moment as Commodus from Gladiator, while Washington is clearly a master manipulator, plotting Rome’s ruin.
‘Rome must fall, I need only give it a push,‘ he vows as he’s seen on friendly terms with Tim McInnerny’s senator.
Why is Barry Keoghan not in Gladiator 2?
Saltburn star Barry Keoghan was originally set to play Emperor Geta in Gladiator 2 before it was reported that The White Lotus star Fred Hechinger was in talks to replace him instead.
As reported by Deadline in May 2023, scheduling conflicts meant that Keoghan, 31, was no longer available for the role.
The actor had reportedly forced to drop the role in order to star in Bird, the next movie from American Honey filmmaker Andrea Arnold, which premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Speaking about the choice he was forced to make between the two at the festival after ‘schedule conflicts’, Keoghan told IndieWire: ‘I am a massive fan of Gladiator and a massive fan of that cast. It’s a shame you can’t do both. But that happens in this game. You can’t do both.’
His Bird co-star Franz Rogowski suggested it was ‘also due to productions that play little power games and then you just have to say, “OK, bye bye”’.
‘But it’s unnecessary. It’s very rare that you really can’t do both. Most of the time, it’s two productions claiming they’re right and pretending that they can’t change schedule,’ he added.
However, The Banshees of Inisherin star claimed it ‘always happens’ and pointed out: ‘Shooting in two different countries as well makes it really difficult.’
Bird was filmed on location in the UK across Kent, while Gladiator 2 mostly shot in Malta.
Gladiator 2 will release in UK cinemas on November 15, ahead of a US release on November 22.
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