Gladiator fans have been left baffled by the bizarre choice of music in the first trailer for the new Ridley Scott sequel, which dropped on Tuesday.
In the clip, several decades have passed, but Maximus remains fresh in the memory as Paul Mescal’s Lucius Verus picks up the sword for the highly-anticipated Gladiator II.
Paul takes his biggest role to date in this epic historical movie – a blood and gore soaked sequel to Scott’s award-winning 2000 triumph, Gladiator.
But, as the dramatic first look to the new movie starring Paul and Pedro Pacal reaches its climax, Jay-Z and Kanye West’s hip-hop track No Church In The Wild begins playing.
Although some of the lyrics such as ‘Blood stains the Coliseum doors,’ line up with what’s going on in the historical blockbuster, fans complained that it ‘doesn’t match with ancient Rome’.
Gladiator fans have been left baffled by the bizarre choice of music in the first trailer for the new Ridley Scott film, which dropped today (Paul Mescal seen above in the trailer)
As the dramatic first look to the new movie starring Paul and Pedro Pacal reaches its climax, Jay Z (RIGHT) and Kanye West’s (LEFT) hip-hop track No Church In The Wild begins playing
Movie buffs have taken to X (formerly Twitter) to express their confusion at the artistic choice, writing:
‘#Gladiator2 trailer has dropped and it looks pretty awesome. I hate when studios use modern music.. or rap as the soundtrack for a trailer set in historic periods. It feels lazy to me. Anyway – check it out.’
‘Two things: 1. Hip hop doesn’t match with ancient Rome. 2. Denzel is one of my favorite actors, but here sounds like Trainning day movie.’
‘Didn’t like the Gladiator 2 trailer very much. Also, who’s decision was it to have Kanye rapping in a GLADIATOR trailer.’
‘Oh no, they added hip hop music to the trailer #Gladiator2.’
‘Watched the #Gladiator2 trailer and I miss the Hans Zimmer music. Ahh well.’
‘The Kanye, Jay Z song spoiled that for me. I get it the lyrics are fitting but… Do you know what was iconic about the first gladiator… It’s music. Absolute chilling to listen to, had a huge impact on the experience of the film.’
‘In what world does the sequel to Ridley Scott’s Gladiator need Jay-Z and Kanye West? Stop shoehorning songs into trailers.’
Movie buffs have taken to X (formerly Twitter ) to express their confusion at the artistic choice
‘Was not expecting to hear kanye in the Gladiator 2 trailer today.’
‘Visuals are incredible but the rap music destroys the suspension of disbelief. Whoever put that music in the trailer should be fired. And if that’s the movie’s soundtrack then the Gladiator franchise is finished.’
However, not everyone disliked the unique choice and some people took to social media to praise it, adding:
‘Who would’ve imagined a Kanye/Jay Z song could go well with a Gladiator movie trailer?’
‘To anybody who says “Why is there rap music in the GLADIATOR II trailer? It is anachronistic and does not suit the period” 1. How do you know what suits the period? 2. Any instrument used to create the music would be anachronistic by default.’
‘I can smell critiques/jokes already, so I’m preemptively taking the stance that No Church in the Wild being used in the GLADIATOR II trailer is extremely sick and actually the perfect trailer song for a movie called GLADIATOR II.’
In the sequel to the popular movie, Russell Crow’s legendary Maximus is long-since dead and buried, so it is Lucius – the grandson of Rome’s former emperor Marcus Aurelius and son of Lucilla – who must fight for his liberty after being taken into slavery.
A former heir to the Roman empire, Lucius is taken into slavery by Pedro Pascal’s Marcus Acacius and his marauding army of troops.
However, not everyone disliked the unique choice and some people took to social media to praise it
Pedro Pascal is Marcus Acacius in the upcoming film
Several decades have passed, but Maximus remains fresh in the memory as Paul Mescal ‘s Lucius picks up the sword in the first official trailer
Lucius was played by Spencer Treat Clark in the original 2000 blockbuster (left), now fully gown, he is played by Paul Mescal in the forthcoming sequel (right)
Enslaved by the Roman empire and inspired by Maximus (pictured), Lucius vows to fight his way out of the pits
Played by 12-year old Spencer Treat Clark in Scott’s original film, Lucius is now fully grown and intent on following the lead set by Maximus by forcing his way out of the notorious fighting pits.
Along the way he encounters and befriends Macrinus, a power broker who keeps a stable of gladiators and sees battle-hungry Lucius as a promising investment.
Fans of the original film will remember that Lucius is also the nephew of Marcus’ son Commodus, who famously killed his father to seize the throne.
In Gladiator, Commodus, played by Joaquin Phoenix, was killed while fighting Maximus, who save the young Lucius and his mother while avenging his own wife and son’s death.
The long-awaited Gladiator sequel will debut 24 years after the original historical film was released to commercial and critical acclaim in 2000.
At the time, Gladiator won five Oscars from its 11 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Crowe’s portrayal of gladiator Maximus.
David Scarpa scripted the sequel, while Ridley, Douglas Wick, Lucy Fisher, Michael Pruss and David Franzoni produced the film.
A former heir to the Roman empire, Lucius is taken into slavery by Pedro Pascal ‘s Marcus Acacius and his marauding army of troops
Denzel Washington plays Macrinus, a power broker who keeps a stable of gladiators, among them the enslaved Lucius
Joseph Quinn plays young co-emperor Geta, a role that has been compared to Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of traitorous emperor Commodus in Gladiator
Fred Hechinger plays fellow co-emperor Caracalla, a role originally offered to Barry Keoghan