Despite the fact that the trailer is not yet available to the public, some reviews from journalists who watched it at CinemaCon 2024 hint at important battles in the plot of the sequel to the Oscar-winning «Gladiator» 2000.
Ridley Scott is once again directing the film, with David Scarpa responsible for the script. Paul Mescal will play the adult version of Lucius, the nephew of Emperor Commodus, and Joseph Quinn — the new cruel ruler of Caracalla who will probably kill his brother Geta (Fred Gehinger) to seize the throne. The cast also includes see Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington.
The trailer, which reviewed by Screen Rant journalists, shows Pascal teaming up with Caracalla and Lucius, recruited by Washington’s character. Pascal leads a group of soldiers in battle, while Mescal leads the gladiators against a rhinoceros in the arena. In the end, the two converge in a «spectacular» sword fight in the Colosseum.
«I remember that day. I never forgot that a slave could take revenge on an emperor and could get justice in the arena,» Washington says in the trailer, probably referring to Russell Crowe’s Maximus, who sought revenge on Commodus for killing his family.
Washington plans to take revenge through Lucius, who idolized Maximus as a child and has been training for the last 15 years to enter the arena at the Colosseum. Meanwhile, Pascal, judging by the footage, is a general or commander in Caracalla’s army. The emperor himself is somewhat reminiscent of Commodus, and at one point imitates his gesture with a raised thumb, which in ancient Rome did not bode well.