Gladiator II is a 2024 historical epic film directed and produced by Ridley Scott that is a sequel to Gladiator (2000).  It stars Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, Connie Nielsen, and Denzel Washington. Jacobi and Nielsen reprise their roles from the first film, Mescal portrays Lucius Verus Aurelius, the exiled Prince of Rome, who becomes a prisoner of war and fights as a gladiator for Macrinus, a former slave who plots to overthrow the twin emperors Geta and Caracalla.