The brand new trailer for Gladiator II has dropped, and it gave us hope that, regardless of how the election goes this year, November will at least bequeath upon us the gift of hot men duking it out in the Colosseum.
The film stars Daddy Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us) alongside our longtime crush Paul Mescal (All of Us Strangers), as well as a very sexy Denzel Washington (The Book of Eli), who has somehow managed to look way better than he ever has before and quite frankly has no business being so fine.
The plot for the movie, which comes over 20 years after the original, revolves around Lucius (Mescal), who is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is invaded by the tyrannical emperors who conquered Rome. He must “look to his past and find strength to return the glory of Rome to its people,” and he looks damn good while he’s doing it.
Here are five takeaways from the trailer that have us seated and ready.
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Listen, the phrase “aging like a fine wine” has to come from somewhere, and Denzel Washington is perfect proof. I know that Pedro Pascal is Daddy, but Denzel Washington is the silverest of silver foxes in this film. He takes on the role of Macrinus, a Roman emperor who was ultimately beheaded, though we doubt that will be part of his storyline here. The trailer shows him wanting to use Lucius as his “instrument,” so we might let our minds wander with that one.
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
We had a great time watching Paul Mescal in All of Us Strangers, but we’re equally excited to watch him wield a different kind of sword and flat-out kick some ass. He’s at least for sure walking around shirtless, but will they give us what we want and show a little more skin?
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Anyone who has seen Pedro Pascal on The Last of Us already knows he can whoop some ass, but something about him doing it in a gladiator outfit just hits in a different way.
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
We get Denzel Washington wanting to make Paul Mescal his instrument, we get Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal duking it out in the ring, and we get a bunch of pent-up testosterone trying to let the best man win. What more could we want? If it’s anything like the first Gladiator movie, we’ll be able to watch this on mute and be just as entertained.
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Part of what’s so exciting about the Gladiator movies is what’s rooted in actual history, despite some of the creative add-ons (like Pascal’s fictional Marcus Acacius character.) Still, even though we’re always ready to watch men go at it, the actual plot of the movie also seems riveting, and we cannot wait until we get to see how it all plays out.
Check out the trailer below, and mark your calendars for its November 22 release.
