"The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the Senate, it's the sand of the Colosseum." Paul Mescal is front and center in the new poster for Gladiator II, the long-awaited sequel that has been many years in the making.

The poster for Ridley Scott'sGladiator II signals an epic return to Ancient Rome, Mescal kneeling in the Colosseum, a sword firmly implanted in the ground next to him, washing his hands with the sands of the iconic battlefield. The poster evokes the same grandeur of the first film's poster, which featured a triumphant Russell Crowe standing in the center of the arena, prepared to fight any and all challengers. The recently released poster is the perfect prelude to the highly anticipated first trailer for the Roman epic sequel, which is set to be released on July 9.

Not much is known concerning the plot for the upcoming sequel, but it is known that Mescal's Lucius, will be at the center of the story. Now fully grown, Lucius is expected to succeed the fallen Maximus Meridius, who dies at the end of the first film after slaying the loathsome emperor, Commodus. Reportedly, Lucius has lost contact with his mother Lucilla, and its been many years since they have communicated. Connie Nielsen will reprise her role as Lucius's mother in the sequel, alongside a star-studded cast worthy of an epic sequel. In addition to Mescal and Nielsen, the film stars Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Fred Hechinger Joseph Quinn, and May Calamawy.

A sequel to the iconic 2000 film had been rumored over the years, but one of the original ideas for a sequel was truly jaw-dropping. On an episode of the ReelBlend podcast, Scott revealed one of the crazier ideas to bring Crowe's Maximus back from the dead. "Nick Cave wrote the script, but I had the idea. I knew how to bring him back through a portal, back to the real world. I'm not going tell you what it is, because somebody will steal it... I talked to Nick every other day for about a month as he was writing it," Scott said. "And so I said, "We can bring him back this way." And what I want to do is start the film in Styx, on the edge of the ocean, and you see him, this warrior, wandering in armor. Then, it’s Maximus wandering, looking for where he's going to go next. That's Scene One."

As fascinating as that sounds, the new course direction for the sequel fits much better with the first film, to say the least. Gladiator was a box office smash hit when it released in theaters, and raked in numerous Academy Award nominations. Scott was nominated for Best Director, while the film won Best Picture, and Crowe won for Best Actor. The sequel has a lot to live up to, but all signs point to it being an epic return to Rome, with a star-studded cast that could rival the first film.

Gladiator II releases in theaters on Nov. 22, 2024.

Source: ReelBlend Podcast, X