Gladiator II is making its way to theaters, featuring Paul Mescal as a vengeful gladiator battling in the ancient Colosseum. The newest action-packed trailer for Ridley Scott’s sequel was released on Monday.
Mescal portrays a grown-up Lucius Verus II, who is the nephew of emperor Commodus from the original film, acted by Joaquin Phoenix. After enduring slavery, Lucius returns to Rome not as a ruler, but as a gladiator seeking vengeance and power more than twenty years after the original Gladiator saga.
“You have something in you, rage. Never let it go,” Macrinus, played by Denzel Washington, a wealthy power broker and arms dealer, tells Lucius as he integrates him into his group of gladiators for battles in the arena.
Lucius is also driven by ambitions for power and revenge, striving to ascend the ranks of gladiatorial combat. “Rome has taken everything from me. But I will have my vengeance,” he asserts to a cautious Macrinus at one point in the trailer, as he demands the head of Roman General Marcus Acacius, portrayed by Pedro Pascal, who previously enslaved him.
“I don’t fight for power. I fight to free Rome from men like them,” Lucius ultimately proclaims, as Macrinus, Marcus Acacius, and others who govern Rome with an iron fist observe from a massive Coliseum set constructed in Malta.
Gladiator II is scheduled for a major release by Paramount Pictures during Thanksgiving and comes as director Scott is reportedly developing concepts for a possible Gladiator 3 in the future.
The first trailer garnered 215 million views across global platforms in just a few days.
Gladiator II is set to premiere on November 22, over two decades after Scott’s original Gladiator, which won five Academy Awards, including best picture and best actor for Russell Crowe. Joseph Quinn and Connie Nielsen also appear in the upcoming film.