Did you find Russel Crowe not returning to the Gladiator sequel a bummer? You have Steven Spielberg to blame for it! Ridley Scott who helmed the OG blockbuster 2000’s film and the newly released Gladiator II, spoke to The New York Times about an initial script that eventually got scrapped.
Scott revealed that the script written by Nick Cave brought back Crowe’s character Maximus as “an instrument of the Roman gods dispatched against Jesus Christ.” Although the director had second doubts about his idea, it was Spielberg who reassured that his gut feeling was correct. “It got too grand. Nick is very high theater, and Steven Spielberg said, “Nah.” I wasn’t confident about what we had actually put together, so I just let it go,” Scott recalled.
Since Maximus died in the aftermath of his brutal combat with Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), bringing him back would have shifted the historical genre of the franchise to fantasy and mythology. Moreover, the story would have felt unrecognizable next to its predecessor.
The sequel, which hit the theaters on November 15, received both negative and positive feedback. On one hand, people found the story was similar to the original film, but on the other hand, viewers praised Denzel Washington’s performance of queer Roman empire Macrinus.
It revolved around Paul Mescal’s character Lucius, who was sent to an isolated land by his mother, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), to protect him from the prying eyes of the Roman empire.
However, after a manhunt conducted by Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal) Lucius is discovered and brought back as a gladiator to fight in the franchise’s symbolic combat pit. “After his home is conquered by the tyrannical emperors who now lead Rome, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum and must look to his past to find the strength to return the glory of Rome to its people,” as per the official synopsis.
Apart from Washington, Nielson, Mescal, and Pascal, the star-studded ensemble includes Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Peter Mensah, and many others. Gladiator II is currently running in theaters.
