{"id":1041730,"date":"2026-01-17T07:26:46","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T07:26:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=483526"},"modified":"2026-01-17T07:26:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T07:26:47","slug":"every-gladiator-ii-actor-is-in-their-own-wild-version-of-the-movie-so-lets-rank-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/every-gladiator-ii-actor-is-in-their-own-wild-version-of-the-movie-so-lets-rank-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Every Gladiator II actor is in their own wild version of the movie \u2014 so let\u2019s rank them"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure> <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Joseph Quinn touches his temples as Emperor Geta in Gladiator II\" data-caption=\"\" data-portal-copyright=\"Photo: Paramount Pictures\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/every-gladiator-ii-actor-is-in-their-own-wild-version-of-the-movie-so-lets-rank-them.jpg\" \/><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap has-text-align-none\">A follow-up to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/2017\/1\/3\/14145642\/ridley-scott-superhero-movies-alien-covenant\">Ridley Scott<\/a>\u2019s <em>Gladiator<\/em> was a priority from the minute the 2000 epic wrapped <a href=\"https:\/\/www.boxofficemojo.com\/release\/rl2136245761\/\">its massive box-office run<\/a> and won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Working at first with DreamWorks, then later at Paramount Pictures after Steven Spielberg\u2019s company sold off its IP, Scott and a rotating team of screenwriters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-features\/making-of-gladiator-ii-ridley-scott-paul-mescal-1236066080\/\">spent two decades<\/a> searching for a way to bring <em>Gladiator<\/em> protagonist Maximus (Russell Crowe), killed off by the end of the movie, back to the screen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Some of the ideas were standard-issue, like a younger-days prequel. Others weren\u2019t, like a crazy-ass sequel that propelled Maximus <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/culture\/article\/20180810-gladiator-2-was-written-and-its-mad\">into World War II<\/a>. Nothing worked until the creative team entirely scrapped the idea of bringing Maximus back, and refocused the drama on Lucius Verus (Paul Mescal) \u2014 the son Maximus never knew he had.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">What seems like a simple volley \u2014 casually repeating the events of <em>Gladiator<\/em> with a new gladiator front and center \u2014 ended up a bit more convoluted, perhaps because Scott\u2019s sensibilities evolved over 20 years. <em>Gladiator II<\/em>, which finally hit theaters 24 years after the original, is more from the filmmaker who brought us <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/entertainment\/22750985\/house-of-gucci-trailer-lady-gaga\"><em>House of Gucci<\/em><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/2017\/5\/6\/15569458\/review-alien-covenant\"><em>Alien: Covenant<\/em><\/a><em> <\/em>than the man behind <em>Alien<\/em> or <em>Black Hawk Down<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">That has its highs and lows; <em>Gladiator II<\/em> is actually a far better action movie than <em>Gladiator<\/em>, with leaner fights and wider-angled staging. (The 2000 movie, for all its Oscar glory, is a shaky-cam mess!) But as a showcase of throwback epic Hollywood acting, it\u2019s all over the place. For all the genuine star power Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, and Connie Nielsen bring to the screen, Scott doesn\u2019t bring them all together in a single coherent tale. There are extreme highs and lows.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">So who comes out on top? Here\u2019s my official ranking of the flavors you will experience watching <em>Gladiator II<\/em>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>6. Pedro Pascal and Connie Nielsen in\u2026 stuffy Oscar bait?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/every-gladiator-ii-actor-is-in-their-own-wild-version-of-the-movie-so-lets-rank-them-1.jpg\" alt=\"Marcus Acacius and Lucilla sit holding hands during a gladiator fight in Gladiator 2\" title=\"Marcus Acacius and Lucilla sit holding hands during a gladiator fight in Gladiator 2\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" data-caption=\"\" data-portal-copyright=\"Photo: Paramount Pictures\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Burdened with most of the exposition and stretches of sustained glowering, Pascal and Nielsen are stuck in the political-drama variant of <em>Gladiator II<\/em> that no one involved really seems interested in making. Oh well. Scott gifts Pascal with a badass fight at the top of the movie before punishing his character, Marcus Acacius, by making him move the plot forward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Marcus, an esteemed Roman general, is tortured in his role as an accomplice to the emperors\u2019 never-ending, brutal quest for power. Nielsen, returning from the original <em>Gladiator<\/em> as Lucilla, is now Marcus\u2019 lover and co-conspirator in a plot to take back Rome in a coup. The pair spend most of the movie whispering in dimly lit corners of the palace about how they urgently need to do <em>something<\/em> in the name of do-gooder ex-emperor Marcus Aurelius.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">The result is extremely stiff, veering on melodramatic when Lucilla realizes the new gladiator in town is her long-lost son. But both have mastered the art of \u201cmake a face when a heinous act of violence is committed in the Colosseum\u201d reactions, so there\u2019s that.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>5. A bunch of digital baboons in\u2026 a cut scene from Congo?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/every-gladiator-ii-actor-is-in-their-own-wild-version-of-the-movie-so-lets-rank-them-2.jpg\" alt=\"A howling baboon in Gladiator 2\" title=\"A howling baboon in Gladiator 2\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" data-caption=\"\" data-portal-copyright=\"Image: Paramount Pictures\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">I don\u2019t know why Ridley Scott thought his new gladiator needed to fight a horde of snarling, slobbering baboons in <em>Gladiator II<\/em>, but we do get that. Primate VFX have come a long way since the monkeys from <em>Jumanji<\/em> \u2014 see, just this year: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/reviews\/24152022\/kingdom-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-review\"><em>Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes<\/em><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=84PGKvnTYHc\"><em>Better Man<\/em><\/a> \u2014&nbsp;but this ain\u2019t it. A complete overreach from Scott to up the ante of his battles, a teetering over into fantasy.&nbsp;But I do appreciate the choice more after hearing why Scott decided to put baboon-fighting in the movie. When asked by <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2024\/11\/gladiator-2-ridley-scott-interview-1236175248\/\">Deadline<\/a> earlier this month:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-none is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">I have to have [the gladiators] fighting something which is formidable. So I cast 12 very small stuntmen. Some of them are not children, but tough teens, quite tiny. And I put them all in black tights and for fun, I painted whiskers on them. And we went to war with stunt men. So it becomes a stunt men brawl of savagery. So then I had all the physicality recorded of the actors. I removed the guy in black tights put in wire frames of baboons where it looks good, the movement looks real. You then put on the flesh and the hair. That\u2019s how you do it. That is a masterwork of digital work right there. You change nothing into a furry baboon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\"><strong>DEADLINE:&nbsp;<em>Does everyone appreciate what you\u2019ve shot?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\"><strong>SCOTT<\/strong>: No. Some idiot says to me, I\u2019ve never seen a baboon like that before. I said, well, the baboon has alopecia, where you lose all your fucking hair. I copied that from the baboon I saw in the car park, which had alopecia. I thought, who is that? And it was this everything sinew tendon with no fat, like muscular steel. I said, that\u2019s my monster. I said, Paul, you know what would be cool? Turn the tables on the baboon. If you bite the baboon, the baboon will be psychologically in shock. Bite the baboon. When he snarls, you snarl back and the baboon goes, holy sh*t. That\u2019s meant to be funny.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">According to actor Fred Hechinger at the post-Q&amp;A screening that I attended in October, the director really loves monkeys \u2014 a live-action one plays a pivotal role in the movie, too. So the nonhuman work in <em>Gladiator II<\/em> can\u2019t sit at the bottom of this list\u2026 but it\u2019s close.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>4. Russell Crowe in\u2026 uh, Gladiator?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/every-gladiator-ii-actor-is-in-their-own-wild-version-of-the-movie-so-lets-rank-them-3.jpg\" alt=\"Maximus (Russell Crowe) yelling with his sword out during a fight in Gladiator 1\" title=\"Maximus (Russell Crowe) yelling with his sword out during a fight in Gladiator 1\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" data-caption=\"\" data-portal-copyright=\"Image: DreamWorks Pictures\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Crowe is not <em>technically<\/em> in <em>Gladiator II<\/em>. In fact, earlier this year, he lamented the fact that Maximus was super dead and super not being written into the sequel. He wasn\u2019t even asked to appear as a Force ghost!\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">\u201cI\u2019m slightly uncomfortable with the fact they\u2019re making another one \u2014 because, of course, I\u2019m dead and I have no say in what gets done,\u201d he said on the <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2024\/06\/russell-crowe-slightly-uncomfortable-gladiator-sequel-1235972023\/\"><em>Kyle Meredith With\u2026<\/em><\/a> podcast in June. \u201cI reflect back: the age I was when I made that film and all the things that came after it, the doors that particular movie opened for me. This is just me being purely honest: There\u2019s definitely a tinge of melancholy, a tinge of jealousy. [\u2026] I remember when I had tendons.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">But <em>Gladiator II<\/em> lives in the shadow of Crowe\u2019s performance, retconning a familial connection between Lucius and Maximus that was only implied in the original, and leaning heavily on flashbacks to the first movie. And he rocks! <em>Gladiator<\/em>:<em> <\/em>great movie!<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>3. Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger in\u2026 Geta and Caracalla Go to White Castle?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/every-gladiator-ii-actor-is-in-their-own-wild-version-of-the-movie-so-lets-rank-them-4.jpg\" alt=\"Caracalla and Geta needle each other while drinking wine and a monkey sits on Caracalla\u2019s shoulder in Gladiator 2\" title=\"Caracalla and Geta needle each other while drinking wine and a monkey sits on Caracalla\u2019s shoulder in Gladiator 2\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" data-caption=\"\" data-portal-copyright=\"Image: Paramount Pictures\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Again at a post-screening Q&amp;A, Hechinger said that Ridley Scott wanted an unlikely pair to inform his two new co-emperors: Beavis and Butt-Head. This really clarifies what Quinn (soon to be seen playing probably a bit of a dipshit as Johnny Storm in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/23715214\/fantastic-four-2025-cast-marvel-movie-pedro-pascal-joseph-quinn\">2025\u2019s <em>The Fantastic Four: First Steps<\/em><\/a>) and Hechinger (already a known slacker\/stoner type from his work on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/22574552\/the-white-lotus-review-hbo-max\"><em>The White Lotus<\/em><\/a> season 1 and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/24164155\/thelma-movie-preview-action-comedy\"><em>Thelma<\/em><\/a>) are doing in <em>Gladiator II<\/em>. Scott and screenwriter David Scarpa don\u2019t devote enough screen time to Emperors Geta and Caracalla for the pair of actors to carve out characters as sinister as Joaquin Phoenix\u2019s in the original, but they do pop as a pair of knuckleheads who are high on power and giggling like Tom Hulce in <em>Amadeus<\/em>. I laughed.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>2. Paul Mescal in\u2026 the direct-to-video action sequel to Gladiator?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/every-gladiator-ii-actor-is-in-their-own-wild-version-of-the-movie-so-lets-rank-them-5.jpg\" alt=\"Paul Mescal with his shirt off looking tough in Gladiator 2\" title=\"Paul Mescal with his shirt off looking tough in Gladiator 2\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" data-caption=\"\" data-portal-copyright=\"Photo: Paramount Pictures\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Mescal is doing Extreme Hollywood Leading Man work in his first big tentpole role. His character, Lucius, is the perfect guy \u2014 a devout partner, a fearless warrior, a best bud, and a sensitive son. The Irish actor is well suited for the mode; he\u2019s an understated performer who can charm with just a trace smile. He\u2019s still the same down-to-earth actor from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/24080734\/all-of-us-strangers-ending-explained-good-or-bad\"><em>All of Us Strangers<\/em><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/22927513\/best-movies-2022\"><em>Aftersun<\/em><\/a>, just with 15 extra pounds of ripped, muscular mass.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">But Mescal\u2019s Lucius is a different flavor than Crowe\u2019s Maximus from the first movie \u2014 a little less rage, a little less reason. Under Scott\u2019s direction, he is mostly there to look cool as shit. (And he often does.) Whereas Maximus\u2019 deep political beliefs pumped through his veins as he tore through combatants on his quest to slay Phoenix\u2019s Commodus, Lucius has more of a John Wickian composure when he\u2019s kicking ass.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Which all works! But when Washington enters the room to butt heads, there are few sparks. And by the end, when Lucius gives his rousing but obligatory speeches to the men of Rome about rebuilding their great nation into a place that will stand up for the little guys\u2026 It\u2019s all a little generic. But man, can he wield a sword without batting an eye.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>1. Denzel Washington in\u2026 Roman House (Domus?) of Cards?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/every-gladiator-ii-actor-is-in-their-own-wild-version-of-the-movie-so-lets-rank-them-6.jpg\" alt=\"Denzel Washington looking worried while sitting on a gold throne in Gladiator 2\" title=\"Denzel Washington looking worried while sitting on a gold throne in Gladiator 2\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" data-caption=\"\" data-portal-copyright=\"Photo: Paramount Pictures\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Washington descends into any project with gravitational force. Whatever the story, the cast, the vision \u2014 it all bends around him. He is a titan, full of swagger and guile, and at his best when he is the only name on the marquee: think <em>Malcolm X<\/em>, the Equalizer movies, or even <em>Training Day<\/em>, a two-hander all about the allure and danger of following a charismatic man&#8217;s lead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">He brings the exact same energy to <em>Gladiator II<\/em>, which unfortunately is an ensemble movie. But Washington remains magnetic. His character, Macrinus, is a mover and shaker, a recruiter whose gladiatorial teams win him the kind of fame and fortune that buys political influence. Macrinus has his sights on all of Rome, and is cutthroat enough to do whatever it takes to seize political power. He\u2019s in his own little <em>House of Cards<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">It\u2019s easy to see why Ridley Scott wanted Washington for the role; it\u2019s not too far off from their last collab, the crime saga <em>American Gangster<\/em>. But Washington gets to chew up even more scenery as a character who operates with moral abandon. During my post-screening Q&amp;A, Washington said that he really got into character when he slipped on the dozen or so gold rings that Macrinus wears throughout the movie. Combined with a flowing robe, it\u2019s pure blinged-out flamboyance. No one else in the movie can really compete.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Bonus: Derek Jacobi in the Derek Jacobi One-Scene Master Class<\/strong> Seminar<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/every-gladiator-ii-actor-is-in-their-own-wild-version-of-the-movie-so-lets-rank-them-7.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" data-caption=\"\" data-portal-copyright=\"Image: DreamWorks Pictures\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">The veteran thespian known for his long list of Shakespearean credits returns from <em>Gladiator<\/em>, where he played a key member of the senate, for a few scenes in <em>Gladiator II<\/em>. I am removing him from the core ranking out of esteem and respect \u2014 this is a man who holds the distinction of having been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Derek-Jacobi\">knighted in two different countries<\/a>! He also may have spent a day or two on set, max. <strong>Spoiler: <\/strong>He gets stabbed in the neck at one point in <em>Gladiator II<\/em>, and makes an amazing \u201cAck, I\u2019ve been stabbed in the neck!\u201d face. There should be an Oscar category for that. Jacobi should win.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/review\/483526\/gladiator-2-review-denzel-washington-paul-mescal-best-actors-ranked\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A follow-up to Ridley Scott\u2019s Gladiator was a priority from the minute the 2000 epic wrapped its massive box-office run and won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Working at first with DreamWorks, then later at Paramount Pictures after Steven Spielberg\u2019s company sold off its IP, Scott and a rotating team of screenwriters spent two decades searching for a way to bring Gladiator protagonist Maximus (Russell Crowe), killed off by the end of the movie, back to the screen. Some of the ideas were standard-issue, like a younger-days prequel. Others weren\u2019t, like a crazy-ass sequel that propelled Maximus into World War II. Nothing worked until the creative team entirely scrapped the idea of bringing Maximus back, and refocused the drama on Lucius Verus (Paul Mescal)&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"excerpt-more\"><a class=\"blog-excerpt button\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/every-gladiator-ii-actor-is-in-their-own-wild-version-of-the-movie-so-lets-rank-them\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1041731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1041730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polygon"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Every Gladiator II actor is in their own wild version of the movie \u2014 so let\u2019s rank them | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" 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