Gladiator II
Pedro Pascal’s General Acacius is one of the most important characters inGladiator II, with many wondering if the character was in the firstGladiatormovie.Gladiator II’s cast mixes new and old characters, withConnie Nelson returning as Lucilla, Paul Mescal taking over the role of Lucius, and tons of new characters appearing.
General Acacius has a connection to the story of the firstGladiator, causing some confusion over whether the character is a new addition toGladiator IIor not.
Director Ridley Scott finally continued the story of his critically acclaimed film inGladiator II, which takes place over a decade after the originalGladiator.
The film follows an older version ofLucius, the son of Lucilla and the nephew of Commodus, with him having turned against Rome in the years since becoming inspired by Maximus.Gladiator IIis full of references, Easter eggs, and connections to the originalGladiator, with General Acacius' story acting as one of the most interesting tie-ins.
Gladiator 2’s General Acacius Was Not Featured In Gladiator 1
He Is An Original Character In Gladiator 2
As it turns out,Pedro Pascal’s General Acaciuswas not featured in the originalGladiator.
General Acacius is an entirely new character who was invented for the story ofGladiator II, with the sequel marking the debut of Pedro Pascal’s character in the franchise.
Custom Image by Ana Nieves
Gladiator II treats some plot points as twists when they aren’t confirmed until a certain point, even though marketing previously revealed them.
Some viewers may have thought that General Acacius was featured in the originalGladiator,as the sequel reveals that General Acacius has a key connection to Russell Crowe’s Maximus.Gladiator IIexplains that General Acacius once fought under Maximus, with him being part of theGladiatorprotagonist’s army.
However, this backstory was only constructed for the sequel, with Acacius not being a named character in the first film.
Gladiator 2 is the follow-up to Ridley Scott’s award-winning film Gladiator from 2000. Scott returns to direct the sequel, with Paul Mescal staring as Lucius, alongside Denzel Washington and Joseph Quinn as the villain Emperor Geta. Gladiator 2 had been stuck in development hell for years before a script written by David Scarpa finally moved forward.
Gladiator 2 Suggests General Acacius May Have Secretly Been In The First Movie
As A Member Of Maximus' Army
Although it has not been confirmed that General Acacius appeared in the originalGladiator, it is possible that he may have secretly been in the first movie.
Maximus' army is prominently featured inGladiator’s epic opening battle, with all kinds of soldiers filling the frame.
It is entirely possible that any one of these soldiers could be a younger version of Acacius, with them growing up to be the character who is seen inGladiator II.
Acacius and Maximus both have victory speeches after battles in their respective Gladiator movies, but their sentiments are very different.
Obviously, Pedro Pascal wasn’t in the originalGladiator, and it is doubtful that Ridley Scott planned far enough ahead to have known who Acacius was all those years ago.
However, it could be retconned that one of the soldiers from the originalGladiatorgrew up to be General Acacius, fleshing out the story ofGladiator IIeven further.
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Cast
Gladiator 2 is the follow-up to Ridley Scott’s award-winning film Gladiator from 2000.
Scott returns to direct the sequel, with Paul Mescal staring as Lucius, alongside Denzel Washington and Joseph Quinn as the villain Emperor Geta.
Gladiator 2 had been stuck in development hell for years before a script written by David Scarpa finally moved forward.
