The main villain in the sequel will be played by Joseph Quinn («Stranger Things») and, given the Roman history, he will be much more cruel than the previous tyrant, previously embodied on the screen by Joaquin Phoenix.
Ridley Scott’s first «Gladiator» turned Commodus into a more stereotypical villain than his real-life prototype. However, the emperor who will appear in the sequel has the potential to outshine its predecessor — according to Roman history, Caracalla (Quinn) kills his brother Geta (Fred Hehinger) to seize the throne and later behaves as a selfish and inactive ruler as disorder and massacres spread throughout the Roman Empire.
Paul Mescal will play an older version of Lucius — the nephew of Emperor Commodus. The cast will also include Pedro Pascal, Barry Keoghan, Denzel Washington and Connie Nielsen.
Ridley Scott will once again direct and produce, and the script for «Gladiator 2» was written by David Scarpa. Also returning from the original film are John Mathison (director of photography), Arthur Max (production designer) and Janty Yates (costume designer).
«Gladiator 2» is due to be released in theaters on November 22.