Last week, Vanity Fair published the first exclusive photos from Gladiator 2. I got hyped! I saw the first Gladiator in the theater and it really was a huge cultural moment. I don’t know if the sequel will be the same, because after Gladiator, there was a surge in stories about Rome and a revival of sword-and-sandal movies and TV shows. That being said… Ridley Scott did the thing. Behold, the first trailer for Gladiator 2, starring Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen and two very creepy young actors as co-Roman emperors.
GET HYPE! I’ll admit, I did not realize Denzel’s role was so big. I thought it was going to be more like “Ridley wanted Denzel in the movie, so Denzel has one good scene.” It looks more like Denzel’s character is orchestrating the downfall of the Roman Empire. HOT! Paul looks great in it, honestly and I’m interested to see if Pedro Pascal can pull off a Roman hottie. Pedro came out of the experience never wanting to do combat scenes with Paul Mescal ever again.
Screencaps from YouTube.
I can’t wait for this, finally a movie worth seeing on the big screen. The trailer is great, it feels like The Equalizer IV, cosplay version 🥳
😂 I cackled at this, now so is hubby! We will definitely be seeing this at the iPic.
Actually, in the ancient Roman Empire there were prominent Africans and people of African descent, of course our Western schools don’t teach of this. I learned of this 20 years ago when visiting the archeological sites of Pompeii, and seeing their names carved in monuments and homes unburied.
Looks like the D has decamped to Italy on an at least semi-permanent basis.
Remember that much of The Threequalizer was filmed in Italy.
(GII was mostly filmed in Malta, but it’s more or less just around the corner from Italy — at least for people living stateside)
And the whole family is looking forward to this, can’t believe Denzel will turn 70 in December.
I saw someone tweet this was Training Day 2: Roman Empire and honestly I would watch.
I had no interest in this sequel (let be honest, most have sucked) and I haven’t forgiven Sir Ridley nor the studio for what they did to the Alien franchise (hope the new one is good). But wow! Between Denzel and this trailer, I definitely want to see this!
Those emperor boys look like they would be the children of Commodus, right? Creepy as hell. But where is Lucius, Lucilla’s son?
Likely but I was more thinking Children of the Corn.
I think that Paul is playing the adult Lucius? At least that is what the trailer seemed to suggest.
Paul Mescal is Lucius. She sent him away into exile so she doesn’t know that he’s her son at first.
This is exciting!
I will go see this but after the trailer it does seem as if its a rehash of the original plot – and yeah, Denzel looks hot as a Roman era badass.
Na. If there is no Russell Crow I’m not interested. He carried the first Gladiator movie.
Yes but we all know why he can’t be in this movie. Although there seem to be some flashback scenes of Russell.
It was hinted in the first movie that Maximus was Lucius”s real father and from what I can tell from the trailer it seems to also be hinting at it – Lucilla gives him Maximus’ ring.
I just watched it last week and I wouldn’t say it was hinted that Maximus was Lucius’ father – Maximus’ son was the same age as Lucius and it didn’t imply that Maximus was anything but faithful to his wife. The movie definitely implied there was a relationship, but that it was long ago.
I am probably one of the few people who thought Russell Crowe was an utter bore in Gladiator. In fact, I thought the tigers stole the show. They were beautiful and quite terrifying when they surprisingly leaped from under the arena. That scene is still impressive and imprinted in my mind.
Ohhh that’s up for debate. Joaquin Phoenix performance allowed Russell Crowe to really act.
I remember seeing gladiator in a packed campus theater in college and the room was really hot so I don’t have great associations. I remember it was long and that’s about it? Joaquin was evil and it was kind of sad. And that’s about all I can remember. Denzel looks great in this picture though.
Can’t wait!! I love that they were like – Denzel is so good he can just have his NY accent. He’s the perfect center of gravity for a movie like this – it looks like they’re going for a more nuanced hero/villain story than the original (which I love). My only quibble is that No Church in the Wild was used (I thought pretty memorably) as the music for the Safe House trailer, also starring Denzel, so it’s curious that they’re using it again; feels not special enough for such a good trailer, plus the lyrics are so on the nose. But regardless, I’m hyped!
One of the creepy co-emperors is Joseph Quinn who plays Eddie from Stranger things.
He also co-stars with Lupita N’yongo in A Quiet Place Day One.
Pedro has his Red Viper Game of Thrones experience do draw on, so I have every faith in his Roman hottie arena fighting ability, even if he’s playing the baddie.
I never go to the movies anymore because it’s just too damn expensive but I WILL go see this movie and WILL be getting popcorn and a giant drink (thus costing me a small fortune) and I cannot wait!
Join a movie club or buy discounted theater gift cards. If you are a union member unionplus has discounted tickets.
In my neck of the woods Tuesday is discount movie day.
Usually for 5 or $6 you can get your ticket and my local AMC there’s a $4.50 soda / popcorn combo. Granted it’s smaller than usual but you can get away with going to the movies and have your drink and popcorn for about 10 or $11
I know they are trying to market this as Paul Mescals movie but let’s be real- this is a Denzel Washington star vehicle with a strong supporting cast of Pedro Pascal, Paul Mescal, Connie Nielsen, and Joseph Quinn. Denzel is ALL OVER this trailer and his character looks to be wonderfully villainous.