The First ‘Gladiator 2’ Trailer Is Epic And Absolutely Stunning
The first “Gladiator II” trailer features Pedro Pascal, Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington and the remaining cast members in Ridley Scott’s epic drama in action.
By Erik Kain
Jul 09, 2024 11:03 AM
Credit: Paramount
The crowd is singing. The two emperors from Rome are hungry for blood. Rejoin the coliseum gentlemen and ladies and prepare for a glorious battle.
After a plethora of teaser images and previews had been released in the last couple of weeks, the first trailer of Gladiator IIis out this morning, and it’s breathtaking. I’ve not been this excited for film about Rome for a long time since the trailer for the first Gladiator The Gladiatordropped almost twenty-five years ago. (I’ve actually purchased the film in Blu-ray 4K format to play it to the very first time in a long time before the sequel’s release).
A sequel Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix’s epic historical drama begins several years after the original film it follows Lucius (Paul Mescal) the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and nephew of the film’s villain, Commodus (Phoenix).
Lucius was a child in that film, portrayed by Spencer Treat Clark. His mother took him to Africa and away from Rome’s shackles, but he’s back to the film in a sequel, as a gladiator. In the film, is a battle with Macrinus, who is powerful and smart (Denzel Washington) and General Marcus Acacius, who once was under the command of the command of General Maximus (Crowe).
The trailer is below:
This film looks just as grand and epic like the first movie, with a dazzling actor lineup. Mescal is a young Irish actor most under-appreciated of the lead actors however the director Ridley Scott became a fan of his work after having watched Normal People. The two apparently talked for about half an hour before Scott made the decision to select him as a lead. Mescal was also on the show Aftersun,which received praise from the audience and was recently added to Netflix.
In an interview in Vanity Fair, Pascal discovered that the fight scenes in the film challenging to shoot. “It’s brutal, man. I refer to him as Brick Wall Paul,” the actor said about his co-star. “He became so robust. I’d prefer to be thrown out of an area than take on him again. If I had to fight someone who is that strong and skilled and even more youthful …. In addition to Ridley being a complete brilliant, Paul is a big reason for me to not will put my body through this experience.”
Credit: Paramount
Mescal claimed he didn’t want to work out to be models in underwear, but instead focus on combat choreography instead “I just wanted to be big and strong and look like somebody who can cause a bit of damage,” Mescal stated to Vanity Fair.
Nielsen She, who is reprising the role of Lucilla and Lucilla, has commented on Pascal, “What a gift this guy has. To play with, and to play with, I am in love with him and he’s right for this role. He’s one of the rare actors with heart, soul and also an incredible ability to transform.”
To complete the cast, we have Fred Hechinger ( Thelma) as Emperor Caracalla and Joseph Quinn ( Stranger Things) as Emperor Geta. They appear somewhat unfocused on the screen in this trailer.
Credit: Paramount
Scott, for his part, Scott declares that the sequel is very important for him, especially after he gave up the chance to make numerous of his previous classics. “I believe I ought to have made one of the sequels Alien as well as Blade Runner. The characters change as you age. At the time I didn’t want revisit it.” James Cameron ended as the director of his sequel Alien as well. Dune Director, Denis Villeneuve, directed Blade Runner 2049. In the 80s as a young actor, “I was never told or even asked. It’s not surprising that I was not happy.”
The only thing I’m unhappy with about the trailer, is bizarre inclusion of hip-hop music that I’m sure is a marketing executive’s brilliant idea to attract younger people, many of whom weren’t even born when the first movie was released. This doesn’t work.
Gladiator IIopens in theaters on the 22nd of November. Alongside Deadpool & Wolverine,this is among my most anticipated films for the second half of 2024.