Bad news for ‘Gladiator’ fans: Russell Crowe dashes hopes of returning to ‘Gladiator 2’

For years, the project was speculated, now it is taking shape: Yes, “Gladiator 2” is really coming. Once again, Ridley Scott (“Blade Runner”) takes the director’s chair. “Gladiator” not only won the Oscars 20 years ago (including Best Picture, Best Actor & Best Visual Effects), but also breathed new life into a genre that was largely considered dead. As a result, the exquisite, but also quite rustic historical cinema flourished again in Hollywood.

Now we have a sequel to look forward to, starring Lucius, the nephew of Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) and the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen). Now a grown man, Lucius grew up admiring the character of Maximus, played by Russell Crowe. He once saved him and his mother. It is now known that Shooting Star Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”) will slip into the role of Lucius, taking over, at least to some extent, Russell Crowe as the main protagonist in “Gladiator 2”.

Will Russell Crowe return in Gladiator 2?

Of course, anyone who has seen Gladiator knows that Russell Crowe will never star in the sequel. At least in the current timeline. However, it would very well have been possible that we would have seen Maximus in flashbacks again, although just 20 years have passed, which you can now also see Russell Crowe to some degree.

On the podcast Russell Crowe was a guest and has finally dashed all hope that he will appear again in “Gladiator 2”. But that doesn’t mean Crowe isn’t kept in the loop by Ridley Scott, as he explained in the interview: “We’ve had dinner and talked about it and all that stuff. So I kind of know how he shapes the story. […] It’s not a remake. And it’s not a direct sequel. It’s not like the day after, it’s like 30 years later or something.”

While Ridley Scott will direct the post, the screenplay comes from David Scarpa, who also wrote the templates for “The Last Fortress” and the Ridley Scott thriller “All the Money in the World.” Scarpa also wrote the script for “Napoleon”. This is the upcoming movie directed by Ridley Scott, which is currently in post-production and will be released on AppleTV* during 2023. The titular lead is “Gladiator” villain Joaquin Phoenix. There is no start date yet.