Gladiator 2: First Action-Packed Footage Shown at CinemaCon Wins the Crowd

It’s been nearly a quarter of a century since Russell Crowe’s Maximus bellowed “Are you not entertained?!” in the Best Picture-winning Gladiator. At Paramount Pictures’ CinemaCon presentation on Tuesday, invited exhibitors and press finally saw the first-ever footage from the long-awaited Gladiator II. 

Introduced with a pre-recorded greeting from returning director Ridley Scott and cast members Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, and Connie Nielsen, Paramount screened roughly five minutes of footage from Gladiator II exclusively for CinemaCon attendees. “It is possibly even more extraordinary than the first,” Scott said.

In true gladiator fashion, the Gladiator II footage won the crowd. The footage briefly repurposed some imagery from the 2000 original – Maximus' hand touching the tall grass, Commodus looking out over the gladiator fights, etc. – in establishing Mescal as a now-adult Lucius Verus, who was played as a child by Spencer Treat Clark in the first film. 

Lucius is now a gladiator himself and recalls Maximus’ last stand against Commodus: “I remember that day. I never forgot it. That a slave could take revenge against an emperor. That a slave could get justice in the arena.” Lucius is seen in the Coliseum battling vicious baboons and another gladiator riding atop a rhino (all of the animals were clearly unfinished visual effects). 

Lucius has several scenes with Denzel Washington’s character, a behind-the-scenes operator of some sort who appears to have the power to choose gladiators. Washington’s character has a grudge against Rome and is looking to use Lucius as a tool in his shadow campaign against Rome and its crazy dual (and very blond) emperors, Caracella (Fred Hechinger) and Geta (Quinn​). 

“Rome must fall,” Washington’s character vows. “I need only to give it a push.” Another choice quote of his: The greatest temple that Rome ever built was the Colosseum. This is what they believe in – power.”

Lucius’ mother Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) is back and is seen giving Maximus’ ring to Lucius at one point. She also shares a few scenes with Washington’s character and Pedro Pascal’s general, a war hero who confides to Lucilla that he refuses to send another generation of men to their graves in the Roman empire’s incessant warring. 

This refusal lands Pascal’s general, like Maximus before him, in the arena where he ends up having to battle none other than Lucius. Pascal’s general also has a few exchanges with Joseph Quinn’s Caracella so, yes, the duo will share the screen together before they appear as Reed Richards and Johnny Storm, respectively, in 2025’s The Fantastic Four.

Gladiator II opens on November 22.

Correction: A previous version of this story had Fred Hechinger and Joseph Quinn role attributions reversed. This story has been amended to accurately reflect who they're playing.