Ridley Scott's Gladiator is a widely loved classic, but why did the epic adventure never get a sequel, and what was the scrapped plan for Gladiator 2? Released in 2000, Gladiator was hailed as an instant classic upon its arrival in cinemas. The film earned Russell Crowe a Best Actor Oscar for the role of Maximus, a Roman general reduced to slavery who climbs his way through the ranks to become a champion gladiator and avenge his father's betrayal. It's a stirring modern masterpiece that has withstood the test of time.
However, like Crowe's later historical epic Master and Commander, Gladiator never received a sequel. And much like Master and Commander, fans understandably want to know why. The film was a massive box office success and swept awards season, repeating Braveheart's big win while managing to age a lot better than Mel Gibson's more bombastic epic has in the years since. However, fans may be surprised to learn that there were plans for a Gladiator sequel — and they were crazy enough to make Braveheart look subtle.
So what was the plan for Gladiator 2? The Australian singer/songwriter Nick Cave was going to use the body of a slain warrior as a portal for Maximus to revive himself. Then the resurrected hero would go on to fight alligators in a flooded gladiatorial arena as he protected embattled Christians. The story of how this sequel almost made it to the screen is a tale of rewrites, shelvings, and all manner of abandoned ideas, so it's probably no surprise Crowe has given up playing a part in the sequel.
Despite Gladiator 2's obvious potential, the film's failure to come together could arguably be attributed to too many "cooks in the kitchen" spoiling the script. Producer Doug Wick, Scott, Crowe, and the aforementioned inexplicable addition of Cave were all involved in the film's conception when the success of Gladiator prompted interest in a sequel. Even though Gladiator 2 never came to be, it's easy to see why the idea appealed. Anyone ranking Ridley Scott's filmography would be sure to put Gladiator among his most impressive, influential, and iconic onscreen efforts alongside Blade Runner and Alien. But like a lot of follow-up films, the sequel's development went through countless revisions. In 2001, Wick worked with Scott on a follow-up which would take place 15 years later. In 2006, Crowe and Scott consulted Nick Cave, resulting in his unique sequel proposal. By 2019, Crowe had moved on and the sequel was said to focus on Lucius.
The most talked-about draft of Gladiator 2 was the bizarre version written by Nick Cave. As far as proposed blockbuster sequels go, Cave's draft of the film makes Dan Aykroyd's infamous Ghostbusters 3 treatment look nuanced. The film would have followed Maximus through the afterlife and reincarnation — but this was only the beginning: After coming back, Maximus would help Christians form an army to take on Lucius, the son of his former lover and now a Christian-killing madman.
The creators realized that Crowe's Maximus killing Lucius could have been a bit depressing, so Cave opted to lighten the mood by bringing back Maximus's dead son Marius. While the idea may sound insane, it's not even the weirdest part. The prospective script, which Cave referred to as "Christ Killer," included not only the aforementioned alligators versus gladiators action, but also Maximus surviving through the Crusades and World War II. The film would then see Maximus fight in Vietnam in an even weirder historical revision than Watchmen before ending up in the Pentagon. Although the script opted not to explain his son's miraculous reappearance, an explanation was provided for Maximus' revival — and what an explanation it was.
There's no denying that the film's proposed sequel as envisioned by Cave's script sounds unconventional. But to be fair to the songwriter's singular vision for the series, his draft does solve at least one important riddle which made the prospect of Gladiator 2 seem impossible for some time: the death of Maximus at the end of the first film. Bringing back the film's titular hero seemed like an impossible feat unless the sequel entered into the realm of fantasy and myth — which is exactly what Cave did. A lot of fans wanted to know how Gladiator 2 could bring back Russell Crowe's Maximus, as the option of another actor portraying the character just wouldn't have the same impact. According to Scott's recollection of Cave's script though, the answer was easy.
Maximus would wait in the afterlife as some Roman gods masterminded his return, searching for the perfect portal. Once a martyr was killed, the gods would use that body as a vessel to Maximus back to the land of the living. Doug Wick offered a different answer for the tricky conundrum when Crowe quizzed him on how this miraculous resurrection would occur. His answer was to opt for the familiar option of anointing Maximus' body with oils and leaving him to rest in a cave for a few days. But as Crowe noted, this bit of Biblical plagiarism may have been seen as a little blasphemous.
Despite his involvement in the Alien franchise, Blade Runner 2049 proved Scott isn't always open to directing sequels. A sequel with Crowe in the lead role never materialized, and the reason is both fair and pretty brutal. Scott claimed that the actor is "getting on a bit" now, meaning the filmmaker couldn't picture him doing the requisite alligator wrestling and sword slinging required in the role. Many might point at Crowe's recent commitment to his Unhinged role as proof that the actor has plenty of time left for strenuous parts. But in an exclusive 2020 interview with Screen Rant, Crowe revealed that any planned Gladiator 2 which do get the green light would be going ahead without his onscreen involvement.
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