One of the writers behind Gladiator 2 revealed a cut scene from the script that would have brought back Russell Crowe as Maximus Decimus Meridius.
Ridley Scott's long-awaited action-packed Gladiator sequel starred Paul Mescal as Lucius, Maximus's long-lost son. While the film featured a majority new cast, some previous actors reprised their roles, such as Connie Nielsen as Lucilla, Lucius' mother.
Gladiator 2 Writer Reveals Original Scene for Maximus' Return
Peter Craig, one of the writers of Gladiator 2's story, talked about a scene in a version of the script that would have involved the return of Russell Crowe as Maximus.
Crowe's gladiator character was not in the second film for obvious reasons. Still, the actor had expressed interest in reprising his role over the years, leading to speculation that there might be a cameo from Maximus.
In an exclusive interview with The Direct during the promotion of his new series Dope Thief, Craig revealed the scrapped Gladiator 2 scene in an early draft would have involved "a really brief flashback" featuring Russell Crowe's Maximus when Lucius visits his father's grave:
"There was a draft I had where I—So there was an idea that the Romans had that you could talk to your ancestors, and they have these underground catacombs where people's urns and ashes and bones were all buried beneath the city.
There had been a scene where once Lucius finds out that it's his father, he goes down there and he finds his grave. And there was just going to be a really brief flashback with Russell."
The writer added that he believed the filmmakers "made the right decision" to cut the scene:
"I think they probably made the right decision not using it. But I was on that with Ridley [Scott] for a while, I actually left to do this show. And they, I sort of gave them a big menu of stuff, and they selected some things from it, and I think they left a lot of the right stuff off of it."
Crowe did not film any new content for Gladiator 2. However, the movie contains multiple references to Maximus.
Lucius' journey as a gladiator is tied closely to the legacy of his father, and the iconic armor and sword that Maximus wielded in the arena appear in the movie (read a full plot summary of Gladiator 2 here).
The Many Failed Attempts To Bring Russell Crowe Back
While Crowe's cameo never materialized, this wasn't the only attempt to bring him back in Gladiator 2.
In the early 2000s, shortly after Gladiator's Oscars success, there was talk of a sequel that would involve Maximus' resurrection from the dead.
According to the BBC, musician Nick Cave wrote a draft for a Gladiator sequel that would have followed Crowe as Maximus in the Roman afterlife. The plot involved Maximus undertaking a mission to kill the god Hephaestus in return for a ticket to the heavenly fields of Elysium, where he would have been reunited with his wife and son (Paul Mescal plays the other unknown son in Gladiator 2). The script never eventuated into anything.
Scott also revealed in an interview with People that he'd once had an idea to bring Maximus back into the spirit of a dying warrior. However, Crowe shot the idea down, saying, "It didn't really work."
Craig's idea to bring Maximus back via flashback seems the most achievable of the many attempts to involve Crowe, but even that never transpired.
Gladiator 2 is streaming on Paramount+.
