It took over 20 years for Ridley Scott to do it but, in 2024, he finally marked the release of the long-discussed Gladiator II. A sequel to Scott’s historical drama released in 2000, the film mostly highlights new characters played by franchise newcomers. With that, one person who doesn’t appear in the movie is Russell Crowe, who’s still well known for his performance as the courageous (and now-deceased) Maximus. In the movie, the Roman general says what he feels, and Crowe is now sharing his brutally honest thoughts on Scott’s sequel.
While it was pretty much a given that Crowe wouldn’t reprise Maximus (the role that won him the Academy Award for Best Actor), he still received plenty of Gladiator II questions ahead of the film’s release. Considering Crowe’s affiliation with the film duology, I wondered how he felt about the sequel. He recently revealed those sentiments during an interview with Triple J, which was shared to Instagram. To put it mildly, Crowe isn't pleased with the movie for a few reasons:
