Paul Mescal wields a sword expertly in the first teaser for Sir Ridley Scott’s eagerly anticipated Gladiator 2, which features naval skirmishes and a ferocious rhino fight in the ring.
There’s also a quick sight of Russell Crowe’s original lead character Maximus at the beginning of the three-minute video, harkening back to the film’s origins and demonstrating its intention to honour them.
“I remember that day,” recalls Mescal’s character Lucius, as he visits a monument to Maximus with the ancient gladiator’s sword.
It then switches to scenes from Gladiator, showing Crowe preparing for his fateful fight in the arena and Spencer Treat Clark as the young Lucius observing him.
‘I never forgot it – that a slave could take revenge against an emperor,’ he adds, as it cuts back to Mescal’s Lucius, with his head covered in blood, as he shares the memory.
It is then revealed that he is speaking with Denzel Washington’s gladiator sponsor, Macrinus, who vows that he would utilise Lucius, who does not know either of his parents, as his ‘instrument’.
Confirming rumours of a massive spectacle in Gladiator 2 (officially titled Gladiator II), the Colosseum is seen filled with water to recreate epic ocean-based clashes, with Lucius performing in them for the entertainment of corrupt co-emperors Caracalla and Geta (played by Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger).
‘Rome has so many subjects – she must feed them,’ Pedro Pascal is seen urging as Marcus Acacius, a Roman general said to have trained as a junior officer under Crowe’s character.
Other shots show a female gladiator and Lucius orchestrating a deadly struggle with a blood-soaked rhino who charges at him, knocking him into the air.
Gladiator 2 will release in UK cinemas on November 15, ahead of a US release on November 22.
