Paul Mescal plays the lead role of Lucius in Gladiator 2, but his character’s origins have been redefined from the original film.
Set over two decades after the events of the 2000 original, Gladiator 2 follows Lucius – the son of Lucilla and Maximus – who, after being forced into slavery, follows his father’s path by becoming a gladiator.
Other members of the cast include Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, Connie Nielsen, and Denzel Washington.
Who is Lucius in Gladiator?
Russell Crowe in ‘Gladiator’ CREDIT: Universal/Getty Images
Lucius (Spencer Treat Clark) has a small role in the original film. He is the young son of Lucille (Connie Nielson), who is the sister of Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). Lucius idolises Maximus (Russell Crowe) for his combat victories, much to the annoyance of his uncle.
The identity of Lucius’ father is said to be the late Lucius Verus, who he is named after. While the original film doesn’t confirm anything to go against this, it strongly implies that Lucius’ actual father could be Maximus, as he was a former lover of his mother Lucille.
What do we learn about Lucius in Gladiator 2?
In Gladiator 2, it’s confirmed Lucius is actually the son of Maximus. This was revealed in the film’s trailer, where his mother Lucille states that she “sees him in you”.
Lucille is introduced in the original film as a former lover of Maximus, at a time when her son is eight years-old. She was recently widowed at this point, following the death of Lucius Verus, but events in Gladiator 2 appear to confirm that she always knew her son’s true father was Maximus and kept it hidden from him.
Speaking about the revelation, Paul Mescal, who plays Lucius in Gladiator 2, said the character’s true parentage was mentioned early on by director Ridley Scott.
“He mentioned it in the talk, but then it’s an affronting thing to see it written on the page, and [to have] that responsibility fall on your shoulders is interesting,” Mescal told Entertainment Weekly.
The discovery, however, didn’t affect how Mescal approached the character. “The screenplay does a lot of that work for you in terms of the rubbing the dirt between the hands, the kind of DNA, and the genetics that Lucius inherits,” he added.
“So I kind of tried to park that to one side because ultimately, where Lucius is coming from at the start of the film, he has a very different journey than Maximus does. And I was hoping that whatever DNA and evenjust the physical gestures was going to be one part of, and a kind of small part of, the performance. But then what I tried to do is figure out exactly who Lucius was and where those differences lay between Lucius and Maximus.”
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