Thecast ofGladiator IIincludes Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen, and Pedro Pascal.
There are many similarities between Lucius andMacrinus inGladiator II.
However, unlike Lucius, Macrinus did not come from influential parents.
After his time enslaved, Macrinus became a gladiator owner, arms dealer, and eventually a Roman Emperor.
Once he realized the truth, Lucius was already the most popular gladiator in Rome.
Therefore,Lucius posed a massive threat to Macrinus since he was scheming to take control of Rome.
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DuringGladiator II, the Roman people were on the verge of turning againstEmperors Geta and Caracalla.
Denzel Washington brought something to Gladiator 2 that I never expected to see in the sequel: comedy.
Macrinus is a laugh riot in this movie.
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.
Since Lucius was literally trapped in a cage, Macrinus probably thought he could control him.
Macrinus did control Rome during the climax ofGladiator II, but only for a very short period.
By the time Macrinus betrayed Emperor Caracalla, a rebellion had already broken out in Rome.
Macrinus tried to flee the city, but Acacius' army was blocking his escape.
