Fans have gone into total meltdown over Joseph Quinn’s incredible transformation in the first trailer for Gladiator II, branding the change ‘absolutely unhinged’.
Paul Mescal is leading the way in Sir Ridley Scott’s long-awaited follow-up feature, with Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington also in the cast.
After what feels like decades of waiting, a teaser was released earlier this week – with a lot to unpack, including naval battles galore and a brutal rhino fight in the arena.
However, the rogue glimpse at a shark wasn’t quite enough to distract fans away from the unveiling of Joseph’s complete switch-up as Emperor Caracalla.
The long hair that his iconic character, Eddie Munson, sported in Stranger Things was replaced by a bright orange ‘do, leaving many doing a double take.
Flocking to social media to discuss the transformation, many branded him unrecognizable in the footage.
Taking to Twitter, Dre penned: ‘Joseph Quinn looks absolutely unhinged in this, I am so ready to see what Ridley cooked up with this amazing cast.’
Completely blindsided, Lwazi yelled: ‘THAT WAS HIM IN THE TRAILER???’
Others couldn’t help comparing Joseph’s Gladiator style to some very famous faces, suggesting that his character resembled Lena Headey’s take on Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones.
While many more suggested that he would fit in as a member of the Volturi in Twilight, and we would pay serious money to see that spin-off…
Over on Reddit, Curve-Inspector confessed: ‘I didn’t realize Joseph Quinn was in this. dude looked unrecognizable! I am happy for him.’
ChicagoCowboy agreed: ‘Whoa! Didn’t realize that was him, excellent casting choice.’
Gladiator 2 has been a very long time coming for Sir Ridley and co, after the project was teased in the early 2000s – and the project was greenlit in 2018.
Naturally, all eyes were on the three-minute trailer when it dropped this week, beginning with a look at Russell Crowe’s original lead character Maximus, throwing the new movie back to its origins and showing it intends to honour those.
‘I remember that day,’ recalls Paul’s powerful gladiator Lucius as he visits a tribute honouring Maximus with the old gladiator’s weapon.
It then cuts to clips from Gladiator showing Russell prepare for his fateful fight in the arena and Spencer Treat Clark as the young Lucius watching him.
‘I never forgot it – that a slave could take revenge against an emperor,’ he adds, as it cuts back to Paul’s Lucius, with his head covered in blood, as he shares the memory.
It’s then revealed that he is talking with Denzel’s gladiator sponsor Macrinus, who declares he will use Lucius – who does not know either of his parents – as his ‘instrument’.
From Gladiator, we know that Lucius is the son of Connie Nielsen’s Lucilla, who was a former lover of Maximus.
In the trailer, the two are shown meeting in the bowels of the arena, with Lucilla telling him: ‘This ring belonged to Maximus. Now I give it to you.’
Confirming the rumours of huge spectacle in Gladiator 2 – which is officially titled as Gladiator II – the Colosseum is seen filled with water to recreate epic ocean-based clashes, with Lucius performing in them for the entertainment of corrupt co-emperors Caracalla and Geta, aka Joseph and Fred Hechinger.
‘Rome has so many subjects – she must feed them,’ Pedro Pascal is seen urging as Marcus Acacius, a Roman general said to have trained as a junior officer under Crowe’s character.
He is also set up to fight against Paul in a bid to curb Lucius’s rage as Macrinus asks of him: ‘Whose head could I give you that would satisfy this fury?’
‘The entire Roman army’s,’ he responds, with Macrinus chastising that this is ‘too much’ – before the one-on-one combat against Acacius is arranged.
Other exciting things glimpsed include a female gladiator, as well as Lucius coordinating a fearsome fight with a blood-soaked, growling rhino who charges at him, knocking him into the air.
Emperor Caracalla also recreates Joaquin Phoenix’s famous thumbs down moment as Commodus from Gladiator, while Denzel is clearly a master manipulator, plotting Rome’s ruin.
‘Rome must fall, I need only give it a push,‘ he vows as he’s seen on friendly terms with Tim McInnerny’s senator.
Why is Barry Keoghan not in Gladiator 2?
Saltburn star Barry Keoghan was originally set to play Emperor Geta in Gladiator 2 before it was reported that The White Lotus star Fred Hechinger was in talks to replace him instead.
As reported by Deadline in May 2023, scheduling conflicts meant that Keoghan, 31, was no longer available for the role.
The actor had reportedly forced to drop the role in order to star in Bird, the next movie from American Honey filmmaker Andrea Arnold, which premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Speaking about the choice he was forced to make between the two at the festival after ‘schedule conflicts’, Barry told IndieWire: ‘I am a massive fan of Gladiator and a massive fan of that cast. It’s a shame you can’t do both. But that happens in this game. You can’t do both.’
His Bird co-star Franz Rogowski suggested it was ‘also due to productions that play little power games and then you just have to say, “OK, bye bye”’.
‘But it’s unnecessary. It’s very rare that you really can’t do both. Most of the time, it’s two productions claiming they’re right and pretending that they can’t change schedule,’ he added.
However, The Banshees of Inisherin star claimed it ‘always happens’ and pointed out: ‘Shooting in two different countries as well makes it really difficult.’
Bird was filmed on location in the UK across Kent, while Gladiator 2 mostly shot in Malta.
Why has Gladiator 2 taken so long?
Legendary filmmaker Sir Ridley answered this question himself previously, when filming was finally underway for the sequel last year, 23 years after Gladiator was released in 2000.
As far as he was concerned, the delay was mostly down to trying to get the right script together, which was ultimately penned by David Scarpa, from a story by Peter Craig and Scarpa.
‘Why now? It didn’t have a script [before]. We tried, actually, four years ago, and I chose a very good writer who couldn’t get his head around it. He wrestled. He was terribly upset that he didn’t deliver,’ Sir Ridley revealed to Total Film last October.
‘He’s a friend of mine. I said, “You’re not getting there?” He said, “No.” That took 10 months. So it went dead.’
He then went on to explain that they ‘circled the wagons again, coming back with a very obvious idea, and why not?’.
‘There’s a survivor. The survivor is the son of the union between Lucilla and Maximus,’ the Alien and Napoleon director added, confirming the full familial link between both movies, over which fans had speculated.
Gladiator 2 is also set along a similar timeline to account for the age of Mescal’s character and his link with the first film.
Gladiator took place in AD 192, while Gladiator 2 is set between AD 209-211, which is when the two co-emperors ruled together.
This story was first published on July 9.
Gladiator 2 will release in UK cinemas on November 15, ahead of a US release on November 22.
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