The 7 Big Ways Gladiator II Connects to Gladiator

Gladiator II (or Gladiator 2, if you prefer Arabic numerals) welcomes movie fans back to the arena 24 years after the release of Gladiator, with director Ridley Scott once again behind the camera for more swords and sandals action. As the title would suggest, this film is a sequel, but by keeping certain elements of the plot semi-secret, the degree to which it ends up being a sequel to the 2000 Oscar winner might be a bit of a surprise — especially if it’s been a while since you saw the original movie.

So below, we break down the biggest ways in which Gladiator II connects to the previous installment — some very obvious, some more thematic. All of these elements end up contributing to a movie that might not excel on the same level as the first, but keep it feeling very close to what came before. If you want a Gladiator movie — well, there are definitely some gladiators in this one. As well as some familiar faces, and even more familiar tropes.

[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Gladiator II.]

Lucius Verus, All Grown Up

This is maybe the biggest thing: While he spends a good chunk of the movie being called “Hanno,” Gladiator II does eventually reveal that Paul Mescal’s protagonist is in fact the now-adult Lucius Verus, the young boy played by Spencer Treat Clark in the first film.

Immediately after the events of Gladiator (2000) Lucius was sent into hiding by his mother Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), since as the presumptive heir to the throne, he was in very real danger. Growing up outside the Empire, it’s only when General Acacius (Pedro Pascal) arrives to conquer Lucius’s adopted home of Numidia for Rome that Lucius finds himself drawn back into Roman politics. As a grown man, he’s more than capable of defending himself against other gladiators, assassins, or even the sharks in the arena. And he’s very, very mad at Acacius, because of…

Yet Another Dead Wife

Early on in the original Gladiator, Maximus’s wife and son (played by Giannina Facio and Giorgio Cantarini) are literally crucified by Commodus’s men, a devastating moment that further fuels Maximus’s quest for vengeance. This is a trope popularly known as fridging, in which the female partner of a male protagonist is murdered, usually in some horrific way, to give the protagonist motivation for whatever goal they want to achieve.

Similarly, in the opening melee of Gladiator II, Lucius loses his own wife (Yuval Gonen), whose death motivates his own quest for vengeance. Specifically, Lucius blames Acacius for her death, as he was the general literally calling the shots.

However, there’s one important update: In the 2000 film, Maximus’s wife has no dialogue or even a character name. But because in 2024 we still occasionally pay lip service to the existence of feminism, this time Lucius’s wife at least has a name — Arishat — and she is an active part of the battle, wielding a bow and arrow with precision before receiving a warrior’s death.

Roman Emperors Are the Worst

Gladiator II, in many ways, chooses not to take too many risks by sticking pretty close to the structure of the first film: Guy fights a big battle, ends up on the losing side, gets sold into gladiator-ing, becomes a popular gladiator while Roman politics threaten to tip over into true revolt.

And once again, the Roman leadership on display is proven to be less than inspiring, though while the first Gladiator only had one emperor to glory in abusing power and resources for his own pleasure, Gladiator II has two emperors. Only one of them — Joseph Quinn’s Geta — has much sense, but both demonstrate a dedication to excess that leads the Roman Empire to the precarious state we find it in, 16 years after the death of Marcus Aurelius. Acacius wants to bring about some change, but he doesn’t get the chance.

Making things extra awkward between Lucius and Acacius, by the way, is the fact that Acacius is now married to Lucius’s mother — though he’s sometimes overshadowed by…