Summary

• Images have been shared from the Gladiator 2 reshoots in rural England, showing Paul Mescal armored up and bloody as Lucius.
• The images tease a large battle sequence, complete with extras in full armor and on horseback. Other images see Lucius in a prison carriage as a slave.
• The set images tease that Lucius will follow a similar journey to Russell Crowe's Maximus and that the sequel is returning to the practical filmmaking methods of the original.

Ridley Scott's Gladiator 2 sees Mescal playing a grown-up version of Lucius, who was played by Spencer Treat Clark in the original movie. The film, which also stars Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal, is set to hit theaters later this year, but no trailer or promotional material has so far revealed Mescal in character.

Daily Mail has now shared new set images from the Gladiator 2 reshoots currently taking place in Sussex, England, revealing Mescal's Lucius for the first time. Check out the images at the link below:

Click here to see the Gladiator 2 set images.

As seen in the batch of images, Mescal bears a striking resemblance to Crowe's Maximus, largely due to wearing a similar style of armor. He also sports some blood on his face, seemingly after a big battle sequence. Other images also reveal extras in full armor with shields, while others are on horseback. Mescal is also pictured without armor and behind bars, seemingly as part of a slave caravan.

What The Gladiator 2 Set Images Reveal About The Movie

How Paul Mescal's Lucius Could Be Similar To Maximus

It's now been 24 years since Scott's Gladiator. While the film has gone down as one of the best movies in Scott's directorial career and remains a beloved classic to this day, there is evidently an entire generation of audiences who will not be familiar with it. Lucius, at least judging from the photos, could be going on a similar journey to Maximus, who went from powerful Roman general to a slave, before then becoming an icon in the gladiatorial arena.

Lucius comes from an elite background as the son of Lucilla (played in the sequel by the returning Connie Nielsen), but he evidently loses this status and is somehow sold into slavery. He can then follow a similar trajectory to Maximus, becoming a revered figure in the arena. Any sequel, especially one that comes so many years after its predecessor, has to strike a careful balance between recapturing the magic of the original while also telling a fresh story, and the latest images bode well for Gladiator 2 accomplishing this.

While not revealing any other major figures in the Gladiator 2 cast, the set images also reveal the return of the practical filmmaking methods that worked so well in the original. The sequel will undoubtedly rely heavily on visual effects, but the armored extras and bloodied Lucius certainly suggest that audiences could be in for more of the gritty and hard-hitting action that was featured in the original. With Gladiator 2's release date inching closer, a teaser trailer will hopefully be released in the coming months, revealing more about Mescal's Lucius and the film.

Source: Daily Mail