Gladiator 2: Ridley Scott reveals that Lucius is indeed Maximus’ son!
This is never made clear in the first opus. Today, the director explains that “the son of the union between Lucilla and Maximus” is the reason why a new scenario saw the light of day.
The least we can say is that he took his time! A quarter of a century after the release of the first part, Gladiator 2 arrives on our screens. And in an interview with Total Film magazine, Ridley Scott explains why it took so long:
“There was no script (before)! In fact, we tried four years ago. I had chosen a very good screenwriter, but he couldn’t find a good story. He struggled. He was terribly upset at not having been able to keep his commitment. Especially since he’s a friend of mine. I asked him: Can’t you do it? And he simply replied: “no.” It took 10 months and it fell through.”
Scott says the good idea was to center the sequel around a character from the original film: Lucius, the nephew of Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). And by the way, Ridley Scott makes a revelation: Lucius is indeed the son of Maximus (Russell Crowe), an element that the original film never clarifies.
“One day, we thought about the problem again, and we came up with a very obvious idea: There is a survivor at the end of the first film. And this survivor is the son of the union between Lucilla and Maximus!”
Connie Nielsen will therefore return to play the sister of Commodus and former mistress of the hero played by Russell Crowe. And it’s Paul Mescal who will play the fruit of their love in Gladiator 2November 22, 2024 at the cinema.
