Movies News Talk
Pedro Pascal stars as Marcus Acacius, a formidable Roman general and gladiator, in Gladiator 2. The 2024 epic historical drama reportedly begins with Paul Mescal's Lucius Verus, who hasn't seen his mother, Lucilla, in 15 years, living in Numidia (located in Northwest Africa) with his wife and child. However, the Romans are starting to invade Africa and steal the land from the natives, and Pascal's Acacius is presiding over the fleet's occupation, which doesn't make Lucius very happy, of course.
While speaking with Vanity Fair, director Ridley Scott teased Pascal's role in Gladiator 2. He revealed that Acacius is "a man in deep regret with his life and doesn't know where to go with it." Meanwhile, Pascal went into further detail about his character's motivations and attributes during the Vanity Fair feature. Pascal explained: "I think that a lot happens before you can stop and question what you've done. And then, of course, there's no changing it. [Acacius is] a very, very good general, which can mean a very good killer."
Gladiator 2 director Ridley Scott made it his mission to connect the sequel to the original in more ways than one, and he did so when crafting Marcus Acacius' backstory. The Roman general was previously trained by Maximus Decimus Meridius, famously played by Russell Crowe in 2000's Gladiator, who won't return in the sequel. Pedro Pascal didn't appear in the first film, and neither did Acacius, but the new character's history with Maximus is baked into the second movie's story.
Acacius was a junior officer who served under Maximus before his death at the end of Gladiator, and despite his connection with Crowe's heroic character, Acacius existed offscreen and was never mentioned or seen until Gladiator 2. Nevertheless, Acacius' past with Maximus is seemingly a significant factor in the man he became after his mentor's death. When asked about the interesting connection between Acacius and Maximus in the 2024 movie, Pascal said: "This movie has an identity that is shaped by [Maximus'] legacy. It wouldn't make sense for it not to. [Acacius] learned from the best, so, of course, his code of honor is ingrained into his training and into his existence. But at the end of the day, he's a different person. And that can't change who he is. Maximus is Maximus, and that can't be replicated. That just makes Acacius capable of different things."
Not only is Pedro Pascal's Marcus Acacius connected with Maximus from the first film, but he is also tied to the main character of Gladiator 2, Lucius Verus, by virtue of Lucius' mother, Lucilla. When Acacius and Lucius return to Rome, Lucius is forced to fight, and when he gets into the arena for the first time, he's shocked to see his mother in the audience. But what surprises Lucius even more is that Lucilla is sitting next to Acacius as the two are together romantically.
Lucius, who hasn't seen his mother in many years, isn't sure if Lucilla is alive or dead until he sees her in Rome in the Gladiator sequel. While Lucius recognizes his mother, Lucilla doesn't initially identify the worn-down man as her son. However, it's only a matter of time before Lucilla connects the dots, leading to tension between her, Acacius, and Lucius. Lucilla's son and her lover seemingly despise one another and regard the world very differently, and it'll be interesting to see how the drama plays out, but Acacius and Lucius will surely fight more than once throughout Gladiator 2.
Based on early information about Pedro Pascal's character in the Gladiator sequel, Marcus Acacius is not inspired by a real person, unlike many of the other figures in the film. Director Ridley Scott and screenwriter David Scarpa likely crafted Acacius and his backstory for the sake of the 2024 epic historical drama since no one important in Roman history was named Marcus Acacius. So, similar to Russell Crowe's Maximus Decimus Meridius in Gladiator, Pascal's Acacius is a fictional character who was partially based on several real Roman generals and gladiators.
Meanwhile, Lucilla was a real woman who was the second daughter of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius and had a son named Lucius Verus. The co-emperors in the sequel — Joseph Quinn's Geta and Fred Hechinger's Caracalla — were also real Roman leaders. At the end of the day, though, Gladiator 2's story is mostly rooted in fiction.