There’s plenty of 2025 movies to look forward to at the box office, but there’s also some late favorites from 2024 that people are still looking to catch up with. Gladiator II’s recent digital and Paramount+ subscription debut is a perfect example of why such titles are still important, even as we look towards the future.
And now, thanks to some wild deleted scenes that have been reported with its new home entertainment run, I’m hoping there’s some prime Denzel Washington moments hidden among the extras. As told by the folks at ScreenRant, yet another scene starring Connie Nielsen’s Lucilla was axed, and this moment could potentially be the most plot driven.
In what basically equates to a power play, Emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) ask the supposedly childless woman to adopt them as her own sons. Since she’s descendant from the late emperor Marcus Aurellius (Richard Harris), the gist of this action is that the twin emperors feel like it’d led them some much needed clout in ruling Gladiator II’s crumbling Roman Empire.
I could kind of see why this scene was cut, but it also ties into why I wish there was more Denzel Washington action in Ridley Scott’s legacy-quel. To me, the palace intrigue of Roman politics was the draw of the movie, as the actual plot of Lucius (Paul Mescal) and his ascension as a warrior paled in comparison.
As it turns out, my hopes for more Denzel Washington goodness might not be too far off, at least that’s if the allegations surrounding Egyptian-Palestinian actor May Calamawy’s role are true. In the run up to Gladiator II’s release, the Moon Knight vet was being touted as an “important character” in the Gladiator II cast.
Unfortunately, she wound up with an ultimately uncredited role as a “companion” to Denzel Washington’s Macrinus, which was speculated as a political move to minimize controversy related to the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
While we’re on the subject, poor Lucilla seems to have gotten the short end of the stick yet again. Connie Nielsen’s deleted Gladiator II scene count includes a touching moment involving her romance with Pedro Pascal’s General Acacius. Which is another moment one would hope to see on in the special features offered with the picture.
Last, but not least, it all comes back to Mr. Washington’s supposedly cut gay kiss. Though Ridley Scott claimed that story was ‘bullshit,” these deleted scenes could be the ultimate decider.
It wouldn’t be a Gladiator movie without deleting a scene that could have enhanced the overall storyline, would it? Almost 25 years after seeing this in theaters with my father, he and I will still go back and forth about how this scene between Quintus (Tomas Arana) and Maximus (Russell Crowe) shouldn’t have gotten cut:
The reason we love that scene so much is because it enriches the moment where Quintus tells his men not to give Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) a weapon upon his request. It’s not a huge sequence, but it’s something that really drives the point of “strength and honor” home. So while I may not have been over the moon about this long awaited sequel, I really want to check out the deleted scenes, and see what new moments might get my dad and I chatting in the same manner.
At the moment, you can rent or purchase Gladiator II on digital HD, with the physical release slated for March 4th. Should you want to stream the movie, minus extras such as deleted scenes, you can currently do so through Paramount+. Oh, and if anyone notices the Paul Mescal/Pedro Pascal kissing scene in the extras, let us know so we can cross that off the bingo card as well.