Russell Crowe Reacts to Gladiator II — His Verdict Might Surprise You

A year after Ridley Scott returned to the arena, Russell Crowe weighs in on Gladiator II — and his verdict might surprise you.

When Gladiator II was first announced, a lot of folks rolled their eyes. Maximus dies at the end of the original. Where do you go from there? Even Russell Crowe, the guy who made Maximus iconic, was uneasy. Now that we’re a year out from the sequel, he’s finally laid out what bugged him about it — and yeah, it’s pretty specific.

Before it hit theaters: Crowe was already wary

Back when the sequel was ramping up, Crowe said he was uncomfortable with the whole idea — he’s dead, he has no say, and some of what he heard didn’t sit right with the character’s moral arc. In short: he worried the new movie might rewrite who Maximus was.

After release: his verdict, in his own words

In a new video posted to the triple_j Instagram account, Crowe didn’t name Gladiator II outright, but he didn’t need to. He argued the sequel missed what made the first film work, and he pointed at a big story choice to make his case: turning Paul Mescal’s Lucius into Maximus’s biological son.

If you’ve seen the original, that twist has ripple effects. Maximus’s defining trait was his absolute devotion to his wife and son. Making Lucius his kid retroactively implies an affair with Lucilla — which, to Crowe, undercuts everything that gave Maximus his moral force.

"It wasn’t the pomp. It wasn’t the circumstance. It wasn’t the action. It was the moral core."

Crowe also shared a pretty candid behind-the-scenes note from the first movie: he says he fought daily to protect that moral core, including pushing back on pitches to give Maximus sex scenes. His take was simple — if Maximus is grieving and devoted to his family, you can’t also have him hooking up on the side. He even joked that when European fans later confronted him about rumors, he’d tell them, "Hey, it wasn’t me! I didn’t do it!"

About that Lucius twist

Gladiator II ages up Lucius and reframes him as Maximus’s son, murdered father and all. That’s central to the sequel’s emotional hook, but it’s also exactly what Crowe thinks blurs the character’s ethics. Whether you buy that retcon is probably the litmus test for how you feel about the sequel.

Ridley Scott is not done — Gladiator III is already in motion

If you were hoping Gladiator II would be a one-and-done experiment, Ridley Scott has other plans. He’s talked about a third entry and says he won’t wait decades this time. He’s been open about drawing from The Godfather’s arc for inspiration as he considers where to take Lucius next.

"There’s already an idea. I always had this idea that The Godfather ends with Michael not wanting the job. He sits there, and there’s this push-in on Al. He’s already had his hand kissed. He’s betrayed his wife with lies. [Lucius] isn’t quite that evil at all. He’s wondering, 'Father, what do I do?' Paul not wanting the job is a good place to start."

Paul Mescal, for his part, says he’s "massively down" for a Gladiator III. And when Scott was asked directly if another sequel is coming, he said it’s already "in process."

Where things stand

• Crowe was uneasy before Gladiator II and, a year later, thinks the sequel misunderstood the original’s moral center.
• His biggest gripe: the retcon that Lucius is Maximus’s son, which he believes clashes with Maximus’s defining loyalty to his wife and child.
• He says he actively fought to keep that moral core intact while making the first film, including nixing proposed sex scenes.
• Ridley Scott plans a Gladiator III, taking cues from The Godfather’s character arc approach, with Mescal onboard.

So, was Russell Crowe entertained? Not really. But the franchise isn’t done swinging its sword yet.