Don’t call it Gladiator: The Next Generation, but in the latest trailer for Gladiator II, it seems that the highly anticipated sequel to Ridley Scott’s sandals-and-swords masterpiece is busting out a very popular trope. In the new action-packed full-length trailer for Gladiator II, the identity of the film’s titular gladiator, Lucius (Paul Mescal) is fully revealed. And this twist is the type that now seems mandatory in legacy franchise sequels.
That’s right, Paul Mescal is playing Russell Crowe’s son in the movie. In the new trailer, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) reveals that Lucius is the son of Maximus, Crowe’s heroic badass from the original film. In the trailer, Lucilla says: “Take your father’s strength. His name was Maximus. And I see him in you.”
Spoiler alert, but, Maximus perished in the first movie, which is why Russell Crowe isn’t around to be a good dad to the now grown-up Lucius in the new movie.
According to a new interview on Entertainment Weekly, Paul Mescal was aware of his character’s parentage early in the process of joining the film, but, admitted that it was still a shock when it actually happened. “It’s an affronting thing to see it written on the page, and [to have] that responsibility fall on your shoulders is interesting,” Mescal said. “I was like, holy sh*t.”
Lucius... I Am Your Father
Relative to the unfolding story of Gladiator this revelation is a big deal, but in the grand scheme of movie sequel formulas, this is par for a very well-trodden course. Arguably, revealing a major character is secretly the offspring of another character is the oldest sequel trick in the book. Luke Skywalker was retroactively made Darth Vader’s son in between the writing of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. James T. Kirk got a retroactive son in the form of David Marcus in 1982’s Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, setting up a formula repeated in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull when Indy was reunited with his son, Mutt. This happened again in 2015 in The Force Awakens when the villainous Kylo Ren was revealed to be Han Solo’s estranged adult son. Then, Harrison Ford kinda did a three-peat with this trope when he teamed up with his goddaughter Helena for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny in 2023. (Though Blade Runner 2049 may also count, since Ford has a secret daughter right at the end of that movie, too.)
While there’s nothing particularly trendy or new about long-lost children in adventure narratives, it seems that legacy franchises have kicked this trope into high gear in the past few years. From James Bond’s secret daughter in No Time To Die (2021), to the machinations of three generations of Spenglers in Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024), to the central premise of Star Trek: Picard Season 3 (2023) being largely about Jean-Luc and Beverly’s son Jack Crusher, creating a sequel for a big franchise seemingly demands at least one blood relative to carry on the literal legacy of their forebarer.
In recent instances like Picard Season 3 or The Dial of Destiny, this kind of thing can work just fine, and not interfere with a great story at all. Being someone’s child and having parents is a huge part of the human experience, so it makes sense that our massive movie sequels would reflect such an intrinsic part of life. And yet — as many Star Wars fans asked when Rey was revealed to Palpatine’s granddaughter — does everyone have to be related to someone else? Gladiator II will probably end up rocking, but one wonders how much we’ll be rooting for Lucius because he’s awesome, or because we’re thinking about the ghost of Russell Crowe.
