Warning! This article contains spoilers for Gladiator II.
Gladiator II’s real-life inspirations make it hard not to wonder what happened after Caracalla and Geta’s reign ended. SinceGladiator IIserves as a direct follow-up to the heavily fictionalized historical dramaGladiator, it was never expected to accurately portray real history. However, despite this,Gladiator II’s historical inaccuracieshave garnered immense criticism because, unlike its predecessor, it does not even try to have a semblance of factual plausibility.
While it is debatable whether the movie’s approach to portraying history is entertaining or underwhelming, the film’s adoption of real historical elements manages to be compelling enough to prompt viewers to look into the actual history behind its fictionalized story. Many story developments inGladiator 2encourage one to seek out the real ancient Roman stories that inspired the film, but the one that stands out the most comes toward the final moment of theRidley Scott sequel. The reason being thatGladiator II’s ending’s real-life inspirations could hint at how Gladiator 3 will unfold.
Caracalla Continued As Emperor After Killing Geta In Real Life
The Real-Life Aftermath Of Geta’s Death Was Far More Intense Than The Movie’s Portrayal
In Ridley Scott’sGladiator II, Geta and Caracallaare seemingly on good terms until Macrinus turns them against one another. As seen in the film’s initial arcs, the two do not mind sharing the throne and exist in peace as co-emperors. However, as real historical events suggest, Geta and Caracalla’s rivalry was intense from the beginning. While they served as co-emperors after their father, Septimius Severus, died and left them as the joint inheritors of the Empire, they were incredibly hostile towards each other, often attempting to undermine one another’s authority.
Caracalla not only got his brother’s statues destroyed and coins melted but also made it a capital offense to speak or write his name.
Macrinus manipulates Caracalla into killing Geta inGladiator II. However, in real life,Caracalla is believed to have orchestrated Geta’s murder by putting up members of the Praetorian Guard for the job. Following his brother’s death, Caracalla continued to reign as sole emperor while ensuring that no one remembered Geta and his contributions as the Empire’s ruler. Caracalla not only got his brother’s statues destroyed and coins melted but also made it a capital offense to speak or write his name. Thousands of people belonging to Geta’s inner circle were also killed in the murder’s aftermath.
Macrinus Succeeded Caracalla As Emperor - How He’s Different From Denzel Washington’s Character
The Real Macrinus Was Significantly Different From His Movie Counterpart
LikeDenzel Washington’s character inGladiator II, the real Macrinus was responsible for Caracalla’s death. However, instead of killing the emperor himself, the real Macrinus used a soldier, Martialis, to get Caracalla out of his way. Martialis had grown resentful towards Caracalla after he refused to have him as a centurion. After Martialis killed Caracalla out of anger, Macrinus declared himself emperor with the Roman army backing his rise to power.
Gladiator 2: Macrinus’ Plan Fully Explained
Macrinus is one of the most interesting characters in Gladiator 2, and his plan to become Emperor is the driving force behind most of the film’s plot.
While there is some semblance of truth to the movie’s portrayal of Macrinus' plot to become the emperor,Gladiator IIcompletely changes his backstory. The real-life Macrinus was not a former slave or arms dealer. Instead, before becoming the emperor,he served under Caracalla as a praetorian prefect. Unlike theRidley Scott movie, where Marcinus gets murdered by Lucius after becoming the emperor, the real-life figure reigned for almost a year before he was executed by the order of the Senate when Elagabalus overpowered his forces.
Is Lucius The Emperor Now? What Gladiator 2’s Ending Means For Rome
Gladiator 2’s Ending Sets Up Lucius' Reign
InGladiator II’s ending moments, Lucius kills Macrinus and takes over as Rome’s new emperor. Even though this brings a well-rounded closure to Gladiator II’s storyline, it leaves a lot of room for a potential sequel, where Lucius will have to overcome many challenges to make Rome the utopia his grandfather once envisioned. The first twoGladiatormovies unfold as underdog stories, where a character loses everything before rising in the ranks by competing as a gladiator at the Colosseum.
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However, given thatGladiator 3will potentially follow Lucius' journey as the emperor after the second movie’s events, it will likely be significantly different from its predecessors. Instead of purely being a revenge story like the first two movies,Gladiator 3 could be more of a political thriller in which Lucius gradually realizes the complex nature of power and moral sacrificeshe will have to make Rome a prosperous empire. Ridley Scott, too, has shared some insights intoGladiator II’sfollow-up movie’s script by revealing (viaGamesRadar+) that he has already “got the beginning of a very good footprint.”
Gladiator II
Gladiator 2 is the follow-up to Ridley Scott’s award-winning film Gladiator from 2000. Scott returns to direct the sequel, with Paul Mescal staring as Lucius, alongside Denzel Washington and Joseph Quinn as the villain Emperor Geta. Gladiator 2 had been stuck in development hell for years before a script written by David Scarpa finally moved forward.
