Gladiator II promises to be a feast for the senses when it rampages into Cineworld this November. Paul Mescal takes up Russell Crowe's mantle as free man turned slave Lucius Verus in Ridley Scott's blood-soaked and sweeping sequel to his Oscar-winning classic Gladiator (2000).
Lucius is just one figure in a varied cast of characters, some new, others familiar. Check out these stylish, charcoal-inflected posters and acquaint yourself with the rogue's gallery vying for power inside and outside the Colosseum.
Lucius Verus (played by Paul Mescal)
The Gladiator 2 trailers have established Lucius as the son of Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe). Lucius appeared in Gladiator as a young boy and shared only one brief moment with Maximus before bearing witness to his death in the Colosseum. Maximus was delivered to the afterlife known as Elysium after he killed Lucius' uncle, the treacherous Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), in hand-to-hand combat.
Lucius was subsequently sent to the North African provinces for his protection. Having grown up there and started his own family, Lucius is kidnapped by the invading Roman army and sold into slavery. Transported to Rome, Lucius becomes a pawn in the power struggle between slave owners, generals and psychotic emperors, all the while struggling to live up to his father's noble legacy.
General Acacius (played by Pedro Pascal)
Acacius is the man who kidnaps and enslaves Lucius, ultimately returning him to Rome. The trailers imply that Acacius is connected to the two new Emperors on the scene (more on whom below) and he eventually comes to fight Lucius in the gladiatorial arena. But is he doing this out of spite or some wider, noble political cause?
Lucilla (played by Connie Nielsen)
Lucilla is Lucius' mother and the person who decided to send him away to Africa. Lucilla shared a romantic past with Maximus, only hinted at in the first movie, and we can assume that Lucius came out of this union, although in the first film, Lucius told Maximus that he took the name of his father, Lucius Verus.
Might the boy have been lied to about his parentage? Again, we sense there is some ret-conning at work in Gladiator 2. Regardless, Lucilla is initially unaware that the adult Lucius has been returned to Rome in the role of gladiatorial slave. When she finds out, she implores him to take up his father's mantle and fight for both his freedom and that of the Roman people.
Emperor Geta (played by Joseph Quinn)
Geta is one of the two Emperors taking centre stage in the Gladiator sequel. Emperor Geta existed in real life, as did his brother Caracalla (more on whom below) but we can't expect the movie to be too loyal to the historical record.
Based on the trailer, Geta is the despotic leader who gets to deliver the famous thumbs up/down gesture in the arena, granted the power to consign gladiators to death or liberate them to fight another day. We imagine this may have gone to his head somewhat.
Emperor Caracalla (played by Fred Hechinger)
Caracalla shares power with his brother Geta, and if we thought Commodus was bad news in the first Gladiator, we dread to think what two power-hungry psychos will mean for Lucius and Lucilla.
Macrinus (played by Denzel Washington)
Slave owner Macrinus plans to use Lucius as his vessel to seize power from the Roman leaders. It's not clear if he has noble intentions or if he's another despot-in-the-making. The trailer shows Macrinus at the head of an army, so whether he plans to use the legions to liberate the gladiators and the people or Rome remains to be seen.
Gladiator II is on release now at Cineworld. Remember, what we see on the big screen echoes in eternity.
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