Gladiator II, the much-anticipated sequel to the Oscar-winning 2000 film Gladiator, is slated to come out in the US on November 22, 2024, but important aspects of its plot have already been revealed. We now know that Paul Mescal is playing Lucius Verus, the young heir to the empire Spencer Treat Clark portrayed in the original film.
Here is everything we have discovered on Paul Mescal’s Lucius and whether he is the son of Russell Crowe’s Maximus Decimus Meridius.
Is Paul Mescal’s Lucius the son of Russell Crowe’s Maximus in Gladiator 2?
The first Gladiator film doesn’t explicitly mention whether Lucius is Maximus’ son, and the released snippets of Gladiator II’s plot are silent in that regard as well. However, it’s entirely possible for this to be part of the sequel’s narrative.
In a 2006 interview with UGO, Ridley Scott, the filmmaker behind both Gladiator films, spoke about a prospective Gladiator sequel revolving around “the son that Maximus had probably left behind with his affair with Lucilla.” (via Rotten Tomatoes) Given that Lucilla was Lucius’ mother at the time, the “son” Scott mentions was likely him. While it’s safe to assume that Scott’s original idea about the sequel has undergone a lot of changes since then, we can’t rule out the possibility of this particular aspect of the story remaining the same.
In Gladiator, Lucius is the son of Lucius Verus I, who jointly ruled Rome with Marcus Aurelius until his death. The first film establishes a deep connection between Maximus and the young Lucius, and the sequel can potentially build upon that and reveal Lucius’ biological father was the late Roman general.
Why was Lucius recast in Gladiator 2 after the first film?
As mentioned above, Spencer Treat Clark essayed the role of a young Lucius Verus in Gladiator. It seems that Scott decided to recast the character after watching Mescal’s performance as Connell Waldron in the BBC Three/Hulu series Normal People. “I met with him and he said, ‘Of course, I’d love to do it.’ And that was it,” Scott told Vanity Fair. “We were away and running with the ball. He was a special find. He was absolutely perfect.”
Paul Mescal’s Lucius’ story in Gladiator 2 explained
According to Vanity Fair, Gladiator II takes place decades after the original film. When Lucius was still a child, his mother decided that he must leave Rome and go to Numidia on the northern coast of Africa. Lucius grew up not understanding why he was sent away and feeling abandoned. Eventually, those feelings transformed into resentment.
Despite this, Lucius leads a largely peaceful life and has a family when the story begins. However, things take a drastic turn when Roman General Marcus Acacius arrives with his army and destroys Numidia. Lucius suddenly finds himself in the shackles of the empire he was once meant to rule and his path leading him to the gladiatorial arena.
