Ridley Scott's Gladiator 2 Recasts The Same Character Twice

Ridley Scott isn't exactly a stickler for historical accuracy. Though the director is known for overseeing a fair few historical epics, from the original "Gladiator" to "Napoleon," the famously crotchety filmmaker also doesn't shackle himself to the real-life historical record. With "Napoleon," for instance, Scott decided researching the titular emperor's life in books was entirely unnecessary. Unsurprisingly, then, the Joaquin Phoenix-led epic contained a few striking moments that, in reality, sort of happened but didn't.

This is nothing new for Scott. Back in 2000, "Gladiator" debuted with Russell Crowe in the lead role of Maximus. But while Scott hired several historical advisors to ensure much of the film was as true to history as possible, Maximus himself was not a real-life person. Rather, he was a conglomeration of various historical figures. So, while he has an obvious respect for history, Ridley Scott is clearly a director first and foremost, which means he does what's best for his films and that's the end of it. As the director put it in one of my personal favorite examples of Scott straight-shooting, "I don't like discussion. I know exactly what I want [...] that's the director's job."

With that in mind, it's interesting to note that not only does Scott's complete belief in his personal vision often lead him to take some creative liberties with the historical record, it also extends to him taking some creative liberties with his own filmography, as demonstrated by the fact that "Gladiator 2" recast the same character twice.

"Gladiator II" is set for a November 2024 release, some 24 years after the original film debuted. At the end of "Gladiator," we saw Russell Crowe's Maximus felled, making his return impossible for the legacy sequel — though Nick Cave's unproduced "Gladiator II" script would have seen the character resurrected. That means that a new lead actor was required for the sequel, and at the start of 2023 we learned Irish actor Paul Mescal had been cast.

The up-and-comer, who caused a small stir with his role in the miniseries "Normal People," has been building quite a career for himself of late, landing an Oscar nomination for his performance in the brilliant "Aftersun" — the best movie of 2022 that no one knew how to talk about. He also impressed with his turn as Harry in British filmmaker Andrew Haigh's "All of Us Strangers." But his role as Lucius Verus II in "Gladiator II" is easily his biggest to date.

Mescal won't be the first actor to portray Lucius in a Ridley Scott film. In fact, the original "Gladiator" saw a young version of the character portrayed by Spencer Treat Clark ("Glass," "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story"). The 12-year-old version of the character was introduced as the son of Maximus's old flame Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and Lucius Verus, the former Emperor of Rome. Lucius is also the grandson of Richard Harris' Marcus Aurelius, and will return in "Gladiator II," with Mescal in the role.That means the now 35-year-old Treat Clark will obviously not be returning. What's interesting, though, is that Scott has also seemingly recast the younger Lucius for flashback scenes.

The "Gladiator II" trailer not only shows Paul Mescal fighting a rhino, it also reveals a subtle but significant change to the original movie. In flashback scenes, we see footage from the original movie, in which Russell Crowe's Maximus took on Joaquin Phoenix's Emperor Commodus. But one particular shot reveals that Ridley Scott seemingly recast the young Lucius, who watched Maximus' travails in the Colosseum from the stands.

As previously mentioned, in "Gladiator" the young Lucius was portrayed by Spencer Treat Clark. But in the trailer for "Gladiator II," the young Lucius is played by Alfie Tempest. The young actor has only had small roles in Apple TV's "Masters of the Air" and provided his voice for the role of Carlo in "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio." Now, he'll not only be portraying a young Lucius in "Gladiator II," but from the look of the trailer, he'll be replacing Treat Clark's original performance, with Tempest's face seemingly having been superimposed over the flashback footage.

Apparently, then, not only does Scott play it fast and loose with historical accuracy, but he has no problem rewriting the history of his own movies.

It might seem like an odd choice to overwrite the performance of an actor for a few flashback shots. But the fact Alfie Tempest has been used to replace Spencer Treat Clark perhaps reveals that we'll be seeing a lot more of young Lucius than it seems.

When asked about how "Gladiator II" might have panned out in a 2006 interview, Scott revealed that the sequel would likely focus on "the son that Maximus had probably left behind with his affair with Lucilla." With "Gladiator II" now finally set to debut and with Lucius as the main character, it seems likely that a big reveal could be that Lucius is actually Maximus' son. If you're going to shoot scenes using Tempest that contain this kind of reveal, and perhaps delve into Lucius' past more extensively, then using the original footage that includes Treat Clark for certain flashbacks would be jarring. If this is, indeed, the case, then replacing Treat Clark would make sense.

As Ridley Scott movies go, "Gladiator" is surely one of his finest. So, let's hope Scott doesn't indulge his penchant for rewriting history too much and that the previous movie remains otherwise untouched in "Gladiator II."