Yahoo Movies Everything we know about Gladiator 2
Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington star in the long-awaited sequel
“Are you not entertained?” Hopefully you will be soon — as director Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2 is finally heading to the big screen. Despite 24 years having passed since Russell Crowe’s Maximus Decimus Meridius conquered the Colosseum and grabbed the attention of cinema-goers around the world, a follow-up movie based in his sword and sandal world is on the way.
Scott may be 86 years old but the filmmaker’s infamous work ethic shows no signs of slowing as he gathers an impressive cast to take us back to Ancient Rome.
Speaking of which, you may remember that Crowe’s slave-turned-gladiator Maximus and Joaquin Phoenix’s sadistic emperor Commodus both perished in battle at the end of the last movie. With that in mind, it’s likely a safe bet that Scott’s new story will take viewers on a new adventure.
We’ve rounded up all the key information you need to know about Gladiator 2, including its release date, cast and plot details.
When will Gladiator 2 be released?
Gladiator 2 will be released in UK cinemas on Friday, 15 November, and will later be available to stream online.
Is there a trailer for Gladiator 2?
Echoes of the past run through the first trailer for Gladiator 2 which made its way into the online arena in July 2024. In it, we find ourselves in a new Rome with a new warrior with a score to settle and a pair of sadistic emperors pushing society to its limits for what looks to be their own amusement.
Watch it below:
Meanwhile, Gladiator 2’s second theatrical trailer shed some more light on Scott’s new vision of Rome, alongside dishing out a few more details of Paul Mescal’s character Lucius and his connection to the original film.
Watch it below:
Is Gladiator 2 worth watching?
Gladiator 2 has been a long time coming — but judging by the early reviews, the film has been worth the 24-year wait. The Telegraph called Scott’s follow-up “the year’s most relentlessly entertaining blockbuster” despite not being “quite as strong as its predecessor”, while The Independent praised its “scale and spectacle”.
The Guardian lauded praise on Denzel Washington’s performance, saying he “almost steals the entire picture”, as did The Standard, who said the actor “lights up every scene he’s in and effectively drives the plot”.
But Hollywood trade title Variety was less impressed, branding it a “mere shadow” of the previous film and calling Mescal’s character a “millennial knockoff of Crowe’s glowering royal punk”.
Read the full reviews below:
The Telegraph: The year’s most relentlessly entertaining blockbuster – but you miss Russell Crowe (4-min read)
The Independent: Gladiator 2 is thrilling – even if Paul Mescal is no Russell Crowe (4-min read)
The Guardian: Paul Mescal slays in Ridley Scott’s gobsmacking reboot (5-min read)
The Standard: All-action Paul Mescal is the pumping heart of this stirring Roman epic (3-min read)
Variety: Paul Mescal is a pensive avenger in Ridley Scott’s serviceable but far from great sequel (5-min read)
What happens in Gladiator 2?
Scott’s Gladiator sequel tells a story from Rome’s next generation, picking up the story of Lucius, son of Lucilla, a character played by Connie Nielsen in the first film. We find Lucius living out his youth far away from Rome in Numidia, before Roman forces eventually close in.
At the forefront of this approaching force is Marcus Acacius, a Roman general who trained under Crowe’s Maximus, linking the narrative together with that first film. Of Marcus, Mescal said that he “learned from the best, so of course this code of honour is ingrained into his training and into his existence. But at the end of the day, he’s a different person. And that can’t change who he is.”
With Lucius eventually sent to Rome after a raid of Numidia, he discovers his mother during a battle in the arena. “He doesn’t know whether she’s alive or not,” Scott told Vanity Fair. “And there’s his mother in the royal box looking pretty good after 20 years. And she’s with the general who he came face-to-face with on the wall in Numidia.”
Who is in the cast of Gladiator 2?
Aftersun star Paul Mescal plays Lucius, son of Lucilla, the sister to Phoenix’s Commodus who was played by Connie Nielsen in the first film. Nielsen returns to play Lucius once more.
Pedro Pascal plays Marcus Acacius, Lucius’s new enemy and his mother's new partner while his future Fantastic Four co-star Joseph Quinn plays Emperor Geta. Together with Thelma’s Fred Hechinger as Emperor Emperor Caracalla, the pair form the sadistic sibling rulers of new Rome.
Denzel Washington plays Macrinus, an arms dealer who oversees supplies to Europe, while Derek Jacobi reprises his role as Senator Gracchus. The cast also includes Little Britain’s Matt Lucas, Moon Knight star May Calamawy and The Crowded Room actor Lior Raz.
Gladiator 2 will be released in UK cinemas on Friday, 15 November
