Joaquin Phoenix played the villain Commodus in the critically acclaimed historical epic Gladiator so convincingly that he was nominated for an Oscar for the performance. For Ridley Scott’s Belated Sequel”gladiatorial 2is now a name up for debate that already has a nomination to show: Barry Keoghan entered the race for the golden boy with his role in The Banshees Of Inisherin. In the end, the Best Supporting Actor award went to Ke Huy Quan for Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Hopefully Keoghan isn’t too sad about that, because the Irish actor, who has already had a prestigious Marvel role in the blockbuster “Eternals” in addition to his Oscar nomination, has now experienced a major career boost. Not only would he star in the Western “Billy The Kid”, with the role in “Gladiator 2” he now has the next big fish on the line according to consistent media reports.
The name of the role is already known: if Keoghan got the role, he would play Emperor Geta. Publius Septimius Geta was indeed an emperor in the Roman Empire, but Gladiator 2’s plot isn’t meant to be based on true events, so the real emperor is more likely to serve as loose inspiration here, if at all.
The site first reported that it was the villain role . There was an exclusive report on Barry Keoghan’s negotiations two days ago – major industry publications like And has now confirmed this. Current reports do not say Emperor Geta is the villain. But if was right about the casting news, this information should also be correct in the end.
Barry Keoghan would join Paul Mescal
Paul Mescal will star in Gladiator 2, defeating Miles Teller (Top Gun 2) and Timothée Chalamet (Dune) – and incidentally has in common with Barry Keoghan that both will be vying for an Oscar nomination this year. Mescal was one of the Best Actor nominees for his role in the big drama Aftersun. Brendan Fraser won the Oscar for The Whale.
Mescal succeeds Russell Crowe, who will not be in the sequel, to play Lucius Verus in Gladiator 2. Lucius also appeared in Gladiator as the 13-year-old son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and cousin of villain Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). Spencer Treat Clark then played him. In the sequel, set 25 years later, his uncle’s actions are said to still resonate with the adult Lucius.
Ridley Scotts Gladiator 2 has a US theatrical release date of November 22, 2024. We assume that the historical epic will also be released in German cinemas during this period.