Gladiator II Ending Explained: Will We Get Another Sequel?

Gladiator II, the highly-anticipated sequel to Ridley Scott’s 2000 film Gladiator, is out in theatres. The director returns to helm the continuation of the Rome-set saga years after Russell Crowe’s Maximus was killed in the Colosseum. It features a stellar star cast that includes Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn and more. The story picks up after the events of the original film where Paul Mescal’s Lucius is fated to follow his father, Maximus’ footsteps. If you watched the film and need a run-through of all the events, here’s what went down. 

What happened in Gladiator II? 

The film opens with Lucius fighting alongside the troops of his African city Numidia against the Roman troops led by Pedro Pascal’s Marcus Acacius. During the battle, his wife dies and he is taken prisoner. But not before Lucius watches Acacius give the command to kill his wife. We find out that Acacius himself doesn’t want to continue the Roman expansion under the twin emperors, Quinn’s Geta and Hechinger’s Caracalla. His views are shared by his wife, Connie Nielsen’s Lucilla who is Marcus Aurelius’ daughter and Lucius’ mother. Of course, Lucius doesn’t know this and is bent on taking Acacius down. Once in Rome, Lucius is quickly picked as a gladiator by Denzel Washington’s Macrinus who has political schemes of his own. What ensues is a series of death matches in the Colosseum. These range from fighting with rhinos and battling it out with sharks swimming in the arena. We kid you not!

While Lucius garners popularity at the Colosseum with audiences and fellow gladiators alike, Acacius and Lucilla are preparing for an insurrection to take the twin Emperors down. At some point, Lucilla also sneaks in to meet Lucius and inform him of his identity. However, he doesn’t believe her. Acacius and Lucilla are soon caught for planning their coup. As a result, Acacius is thrown into the Colosseum with Lucius. This is where he tells him about Maximus. The two throw their weapons and refuse to kill each other. Geta and Caracalla give the order to shoot Acacius down. He is killed by the arrows as an enraged Lucius asks if this is how Rome treats her champions. This sparks a riot as the people begin fighting with the empire’s guards. Later, Caracalla kills Geta with Macrinus’ help and claims his position as the sole emperor. Up next, Macrinus kills Caracalla before shooting an arrow that kills Lucilla. It can be that he was actually trying to kill Lucius, who had gone to rescue his mother. It’s important to note that Macrinus had a pretty good reason to hate Lucilla as he was a slave under her father, Marcus Aurelius. We wish more of his backstory should have come out. 

What happens at the end of Gladiator II? 

In the final clash, Lucius kills Macrinus as they thrash around in the river Tiber and his body is carried away by the current. In the end, Lucius, now wearing his father Maximus’ armour, reveals himself as the true heir to the throne and addresses the soldiers and people of Rome. He urges them to join in and rebuild Rome according to his father and grandfather’s principles. The film closes with Lucius standing in an empty Colosseum and we get a flashback of his father as he thinks about his legacy. 

The ending of Gladiator II opens up the possibility of another sequel as Lucius’ journey as a leader has just begun. He’s well on his way to becoming the emperor and upholding his family’s ideology. While the makers have not announced the next instalment yet, it will be interesting to see where the franchise goes next. Would there be gladiators in it? Your guess is as good as ours. 

Gladiator II is currently in theatres.