Denzel Washington plays Macrinus in Gladiator II from Paramount Pictures.
The action-packed trailer for Paramount’s Gladiator II has racked up 215 million global cross-platform views in just a few days and suggests Ridley Scott might have pulled off his long-awaited sequel to his Oscar-winning 2000 epic. The new film is led by Paul Mescal as a grown-up Lucius and also stars Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington in what looks to be a rousing spectacle.
But there is a cohort of fans who claim they are not entertained. While Paramount’s official trailer on YouTube (watch it below) ranks as one of the studio’s most-watched in a 24-hour-period ever, and plenty of fans have been wildly enthusiastic, it also has 133,000 likes vs. 279,000 dislikes and counting. That’s very unusual for a major tentpole release.
Wading into the comments on the video and on X (not recommended), there seem to be three reasons for the backlash — and two are specific to the way the trailer was put together and seemingly not reflective of overall feelings about the film.
First, the trailer, clocking in at over three minutes, is being criticized for seemingly giving away too much. Audiences tend to dislike this — understandably. (Paramount’s official trailer for last year’s Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part 1 similarly gave away every major set piece.)
The second reason — and this is by far the most cited — is the trailer uses Kanye West and Jay-Z’s “No Church in the Wild.” Some are asking, “Why have rap music in a movie about the Roman Empire?” Admittedly, part of the original Gladiator’s appeal was that it was unabashedly classical — a throwback to sandal-and-toga epics like Ben Hur and Spartacus. It also had a beloved soundtrack by Hans Zimmer, whose anthem “The Battle” is one of the best action anthems ever written.
Of course, it’s hard to imagine such contemporary music being used during the film’s Ancient Rome sequences, this is just a trailer, so perhaps critics should chill out. Also, “No Church in the Wild” includes the lyric “blood stains the Coliseum doors,” so there is that. But the music protest starts to look a rather dog whistle-y when you get to this next bit.
The third reason for the backlash: Some are griping about Washington’s role in the film. The Oscar winner plays Macrinus, who’s described as a cruel power broker who keeps a stable of gladiators. The actor looks like he’s having an absolute blast. But some complain that Washington still has his New York accent. Of course, Washington’s voice is so iconic, it might be weird if he suddenly adopted a British accent. Also: British accents don’t make any sense for Ancient Rome either, they’ve just traditionally been used in Hollywood films about the period and tend to feel right (the British Empire having been similarly imperialistic and all).
And here’s where it gets ugly (as you suspected it would). Some of the comments ridiculing the idea of Washington in the film have been racist. And when you combine that with people complaining about a rap song, it looks like another, sadly all too familiar, toxic fandom wave. (For those wondering, and not that it matters, but there were Black people in Ancient Rome — including in positions of power; such as famed Roman officer Lucius Quietus.)
Also, anybody upset about Washington wandering around Ancient Rome is going to have to keep on being upset into next year. Washington is also starring in Training Day director Antoine Fuqua’s upcoming and as-yet-untitled Netflix feature about the Roman-era commander Hannibal, written by original Gladiator scribe John Logan.
One more thing about the Gladiator music: Zimmer opted not to return for the sequel and Harry Gregson-Williams scored the film instead. “It’s really very simple. I’ve done that world. And I think I did it well,” Zimmer previously explained to Curzon about not returning. “And all I’d do is set myself up for either trying to repeat myself, which I don’t want to do, or getting slaughtered by critics who say you didn’t do it as well as you did the first time. We have a gladiator fight in Dune: Part Two, right? We have a gladiator fight in Gladiator obviously, but they couldn’t be more different!” (This from the man who scored four Pirates of the Caribbean movies, but OK.)
My personal favorite top-voted Gladiator II trailer comment has nothing to do with any of this, but rather paraphrases a Game of Thrones line to point out: “Every time Ridley Scott makes a movie, God flips a coin.” After Napoleon, we’re certainly due for a terrific one, and Gladiator II just might be it.
Here’s the Gladiator II trailer:
Here’s the original:
