There was never a loud clamor for a sequel to Gladiator, Ridley Scott’s 2000 epic that won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. But after more than two decades spent in a quiet development quagmire, the sequel Gladiator II is right around the corner and so are the first official images of stars Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen, and Pedro Pascal.
The photos arrive courtesy of Vanity Fair, which also includes shots of Joseph Quinn, seen right now in A Quiet Place: Day One, and Fred Hechinger, who is in theaters now in Thelma. Gladiator II currently has a release date of November 22nd, putting it squarely in awards season territory.
Mescal plays Lucius, the son of Nielsen’s Lucilla, and who as a boy learned from Russell Crowe’s Maximus about what it means to be a warrior and stand up for something. Now an adult, the former heir to the Empire has disconnected himself from his family, living in the wilderness of Northern Africa, until finding his way back to Rome as a gladiator.
“What human beings will do to survive, but also what human beings will do to win,” explained Mescal. “We see that in the arena, but also in the political struggle that’s going on outside of my character’s storyline, where you see there’s other characters striving and pulling for power. Where’s the space for humanity? Where’s the space for love, familial connection? And ultimately, will those things overcome this kind of greed and power? Those things are oftentimes directly in conflict with each other.”
He added, “It’s very ‘angry young man’ drama in that sense. He can see the way Rome has kind of fallen in on itself. Rome represents all the personal neglect that he felt as a child. Suddenly he’s thrust back into that world and has direct proximity to all of the things that he thinks he hates and doesn’t feel attached to anymore.”
