Summary
Gladiator IIcould give Lucius the chance to make an unrealized Maximus storyline come to fruition after 24 years. Thestory ofGladiator IIhinges on Lucius, the son of Lucilla from the first movie. Lucius' story inGladiator II’s sequel timelinetakes place around 12–15 years after the first movie and picks up with the character living a peaceful life with a wife and child on the northwest coast of Africa. However, he is dragged back into the turmoil of Rome’s expanding empire and begins a crusade of vengeance against Marcus Acacius, a Roman general.
Lucius and Acacius are portrayed by Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal respectively inGladiator II’s ensemble cast, with the former essentially taking over from Russell Crowe as the protagonist ofGladiator. Crowe playedMaximus Decimus Meridius inGladiator, the Roman general who was forced to fight in the Colosseum. Maximus' story went through several twists and turns inGladiator, with one potential endgame being unrealized in the film. Through Paul Mescal’s Lucius, this unrealized story could finally come to pass 24 years later.
Gladiator 2 Could End With Lucius Becoming The New Emperor
Lucius Has Familial Connections To A Past Roman Emperor
This unrealized story point surrounds the ending ofGladiator II, specifically where Lucius' character arc could take him. As has been revealed by the trailer forGladiator IIand comments from Ridley Scott and Mescal, Lucius is living away from the eyes of the Roman Empire. Scott even stated that his mother, Connie Nielsen’s Lucilla, thinks Lucius is dead. Despite living a life of peace outside of Roman politics, he finds his way into the gladiatorial arena due to the actions of Pascal’s Acacius.
WithGladiator II’s story positioning Lucius back under the spotlight of Roman Emperors, the film could end with him taking his rightful place as ruler.Gladiator II’s pair of Roman Emperorsare taken from real history, but Scott has never been one to be afraid to change history in his movies, as evidenced byGladiator’s ending which suggested the potentiality of Rome becoming a republic. As such,history could be changed once more, with Lucius taking responsibility as the leader of Romegiven his connection to a character from the first movie.
This gives Lucius a blood claim to become the Roman Emperor, potentially giving him more support in the senate…
In theGladiatorfilms, Lucius is the grandson of former Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, played by the late Richard Harris. This gives Lucius a blood claim to become the Roman Emperor, potentially giving him more support in the senate. If this is the direction in which Lucius' character arc goes, the character could become the Roman Emperor by the end ofGladiator IIrealizing a storyline that did not happen in the first movie.
The Original Gladiator Was Never Going To End With Maximus As Emperor
Maximus' Story Moved Him Away From Becoming Rome’s Emperor
InGladiator, Maximus Decimus Meridius also had a claim to become the Roman Emperor. Maximus was shown to be a good friend and trusted ally of Lucius' grandfather, Marcus Aurelius. Aurelius wished to see Rome become a republic and asked Maximus to become Emperor after him in order to see these wishes fulfilled. However, Aurelius was killed by Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus, which inadvertently forced Maximus into a life of slavery as a gladiator. Although Aurelius' longing for Maximus to become Emperor gave the latter a strong claim, he was unlikely to ever be elected, unlike certainGladiator IIcharacters.
Fred Hechinger
Emperor Caracalla
Unlike Commodus or even Lucius,Maximus had no blood connection to Marcus Aurelius. In the Roman Empire, heritage and lineage were incredibly important factors in who became Emperor, meaning Commodus always would have had a stronger claim to succeed Aurelius, regardless of his conniving schemes. WhileGladiatorraised the possibility of Maximus becoming Emperor and teased this storyline throughout, it was never realized as his character arc took him down a different path of revenge and justice.
Why Russell Crowe Isn’t In Gladiator 2
While there are seemingly obvious narrative reasons why Russell Crowe didn’t return for Gladiator 2, the full story is more complicated.
Gladiator 2 Can’t End The Same Way As The First Movie
Lucius Realizing Maximus' Emperor Teases Would Give The Two Films A Degree Of Differentiation
Not only does the possibility of Lucius becoming Emperor inGladiator IIfit his character arc and make more sense than Maximus doing so inGladiator, but it would also benefit the film from a wider storytelling perspective. Based on what has been revealed aboutGladiator II, it is clear that the film is already similar toGladiator. Both Maximus and Lucius are characters who lived lives of relative peace before being wronged by someone high-up in the Roman Empire and being forced into a life of battles, wars, and gladiatorial combat.
Making Lucius' character arc end with him becoming the Roman Emperor would giveGladiator IIa very different climax fromGladiator…
Similarly, Lucius is seeking revenge against Marcus Acacius just as Maximus was against Commodus. Evidently,the story set-ups of bothGladiatorandGladiator IIhave a lot of similarities. That said, making Lucius' character arc end with him becoming the Roman Emperor would giveGladiator IIa very different climax fromGladiator. This would giveGladiator IImore credence for existing as it is exploring something different from the first movie. WhileGladiator IIlooks fantastic, the story needs to stand on its own without simply copying its predecessor, something a different ending for Lucius would achieve.
Gladiator II
Cast
Gladiator 2 is the follow-up to Ridley Scott’s award-winning film Gladiator from 2000. Scott returns to direct the sequel, with Paul Mescal staring as Lucius, alongside Denzel Washington and Joseph Quinn as the villain Emperor Geta. Gladiator 2 had been stuck in development hell for years before a script written by David Scarpa finally moved forward.
