‘Gladiator II’ Trailer: Paul Mescal Seeks Revenge on Pedro Pascal
Written by Rtradio on July 9, 2024
Paul Mescal is taking on all of Rome in Gladiator II.
The upcoming sequel to the 2000 film features the Aftersun star as Lucius Verus, the nephew of Commodus, the patricidal traitor-turned-emperor played by Joaquin Phoenix in the first film.
After years living on his own, away from the Roman Empire and his mother, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), Lucius is brought back to Rome to enter the Colosseum himself, attempting to follow in the footsteps of his childhood hero, Maximus — the role that won Russell Crowe the Best Actor Oscar back in 2001.
In the trailer for the sequel — once again directed by Ridley Scott — Lucius says that, despite growing up far removed from his royal Roman roots, he’s never forgotten the day Maximus took revenge against Commodus.
“That rage is your gift,” promises Macrinus (Denzel Washington), a wealthy arms dealer who conscripts Lucius into his stable of gladiators.
Lucius wants revenge on “the entire Roman army,” but given the impossibility of that, he admits, “the general will do.”
That general is Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal), who, despite training under Maximus, represents everything Lucius despises about the Roman Empire. The pair first squared off when Marcus led the Roman army to take Numidia — the region of northern Africa where Lucilla sent Lucius as a boy — and meet once again in the deadly Colosseum.
Gladiator II’s other main antagonists are the twin brother co-emperors Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) and Geta (Joseph Quinn), cruel and power-hungry rulers, who, upon hearing that their people are starving, declare, “They can eat war!” (Geta also gleefully recreates Commodus’ infamous thumbs down in the trailer.)
Watch the full trailer below.
ET recently spoke with Mescal about his experience filming the sequel and he marveled at being a part of a new installment to a movie that has “been in the cultural zeitgeist for 20 years.”
“There’s not a lot of films that have done that, especially in this genre,” he reflected. “So there’s a healthy amount of pressure, but also a healthy amount of confidence from the people that made the film. We are excited to kind of add the next installment to a film that has been and will continue to be incredibly popular.”
One person who is less than excited about the upcoming sequel, however, is Crowe.
At the end of the first Gladiator, Maximus succumbs to injuries he earned while leading a violent attempt to overthrow Commodus, meaning the Oscar winner’s character could not return for the sequel — a fact which has seemingly led to some skepticism from the actor.
“I’m slightly uncomfortable, the fact that they’re making another one, you know?” he admitted in a recent podcast interview. “Because, of course, I’m dead, and I have no say in what gets done.”
“But, a couple of things that I’ve heard, I’m like, ‘No, no, no, no, no. That’s not in the moral journey of that particular character,'” he continued. “But, you know, can’t say anything. It’s not my place. I’m six foot under. So we’ll see what that is like.”
The film also stars Derek Jacobi as Senator Gracchus, Tim McInnerny as Thraex and Alexander Karim as Ravi, plus Lior Raz, Peter Mensah, Matt Lucas, May Calamawy and more.
Gladiator II is set to storm into theaters on Nov. 22.
RELATED CONTENT:
