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Do You Need to See ‘Gladiator’ to Understand the Sequel?
The highly-anticipated ‘Gladiator II’ is set to hit theaters more than two decades after ‘Gladiator’ debuted
The sequel — which hits theaters on Friday, November 22 — focuses on Lucius ( Paul Mescal), the son of Lucilla ( Connie Nielsen) and nephew of Commodus (played by Joaquin Phoenix in the original movie). “I saw the film for the first time when I was about 13 with my dad,” Mescal, 28, told Entertainment Weekly earlier this month, while costar Pedro Pascal gushed that he saw the original in theaters not once — but twice — because of “how emotional the movie was.” As Gladiator II unfolds, Lucius’ life is disturbed when Roman forces led by General Marcus Acacius (Pascal) invade Numidia and hold him captive.
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