New ‘Gladiator II’ trailer reveals huge link to the Oscar-winning original

Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal star in a brand-new trailer for Gladiator II that was released by Paramount Pictures on Monday, and it reveals a key link to Ridley Scott‘s original film.

“Whose head could I give you to satisfy your fury?” Washington’s character, Macrinus, a wealthy arms dealer, asks Mescal’s Lucius in the new trailer.

“The general will do,” Lucius responds, setting up the context for a duel between Lucius and Pascal’s character, Marcus Acacius, the general who demolished Lucius’ adopted homeland, leading to his enslavement.

“I will have my vengeance,” Lucius says.

Connie Nielsen, who plays Lucius’ mother, Lucilla, also appears in the trailer — and drops the bombshell that Russell Crowe‘s character from the 2000 epic was his father.

“Lucius, take your father’s strength. His name was Maximus, and I see him in you,” she says.

While Lucius appeared as a boy in the first film, and it was apparent Lucilla and Maximus had a relationship in the past, she never mentioned that Lucius was his son.

The action-packed trailer for Scott’s sequel also features charging rhinos, decadent Roman-era costumes, and a dramatic conversation between Macrinus and Lucius.

The film also stars Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Derek Jacobi, Tim McInnerny, Alexander Karim, Rory McCann and more.

Gladiator II arrives in theaters Nov. 22.

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