Yahoo Movies Gladiator 2 new trailer confirms fan theory about Lucius
Gladiator 2's new trailer has arrived and it's come with a major reveal that confirms a long-running fan theory.
The trailer sees Lucilla (Connie Neilsen) talk to her son Lucius (Paul Mescal) before a battle in the Colosseum. "Lucius, take your father's strength. His name was Maximus and I see him in you," she tells him.
The first trailer already had hints that Lucius was the son of Maximus, as we saw Lucilla give him Maximus's ring. We also saw Lucius admiring his father's armour (a shot that's repeated in this trailer).
It's unclear yet whether this is the moment Lucius learns that Maximus is his father, but we'll find the full context when the eagerly-awaited sequel arrives in November.
Related: How does Gladiator 2 connect to the original movie?
Following the trailer release, Paul Mescal spoke to EW about the big reveal and how he knew about it from his first talks with Ridley Scott, but it still shocked him.
"I was like, 'Holy shit'," he recalled.
"He mentioned it in the talk, but then it's an affronting thing to see it written on the page, and [to have] that responsibility fall on your shoulders is interesting.
"The screenplay does a lot of that work for you in terms of the rubbing the dirt between the hands, the kind of DNA, and the genetics that Lucius inherits. So I kind of tried to park that to one side," he added.
"Ultimately, where Lucius is coming from at the start of the film, he has a very different journey than Maximus does. And I was hoping that whatever DNA and even just the physical gestures was going to be one part of, and a kind of small part of, the performance."
Related: Gladiator 2 confirms earlier UK release date
The father reveal is the big moment of the new trailer, but it also reveals Lucius facing off against baboons in the Colosseum, as well as more of Denzel Washington's pivotal character Macrinus.
After the first trailer was release, there was criticism of Washington's accent in the sequel, which he has since defended.
Gladiator II is released in UK cinemas on November 15 and in US cinemas on November 22.
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