The Gladiator Sequel that you’ll never see

Almost 17 years ago, the globally acclaimed Gladiator was released world wide. Directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russel Crowe, the film focused on Maximus Decimus Meridius – a Roman general turned slave who finds himself fighting for his life in the famed Roman Colosseum.

If you’ve already seen the film, then you will probably agree that it stands quite well on its own. Even after all this time, it’s aged extremely well and still has that recent film type of vibe. Regarding its positive reception and success, a prequel was in talks back in 2001. Obviously this never happened and instead something a bit more ridiculous was proposed instead.

(Image: Dreamworks/Universal)

Now I’m only going to say this once:

Spoilers

Gladiator has a beginning, a middle and an end. Maximus loses his family which is how he became sold into slavery. Although he makes a name for himself in the Colosseum after being forced into bloody combat, his main goal is to take revenge on antagonist Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). A bunch of stuff happens, and eventually Maximus achieves his goal – but loses his own life in the process.

Usually, the death of a protagonist would mean it’s the end. However, some genius in Hollywood thought that this was just the beginning, and they could carry on from here. In 2009, Australian Screenplay writer Nick Cave‘s script for a potential sequel to the film emerged on the internet. In fact, just take a look for yourself.

Gladiator 2 by Nick Cave by quinntessential on Scribd

It’s quite long so here’s a brief run down – Maximum finds himself in the afterlife and is offered a chance with his family again if he defends all Christians. He then finds out his son is alive and is very religious. His son convinces him to wager war against the Gods and is then granted eternal life. This would then lead to him taking part in World War 2 and Vietnam, much like Wolverine or something.

I’m thankful this never happened. Gladiator may have had its fair share of movie mistakes that revealed modern day items accidentally present in the film’s pre-christ setting, but this is just silly. Sometimes, just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

Source: Scribd