From a galaxy far, far away to ancient Rome, Deadline has reported that The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal is in final negotiations to join Gladiator 2.
It’s not known who Pedro Pascal would play in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator sequel, but he will be a very welcome addition to what is shaping up to be a very impressive cast. Paul Mescal (Aftersun) stars in Gladiator 2 as Lucius, with Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin), Denzel Washington (The Equalizer 3), and Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things) filling out the rest of the cast. It was also recently announced that Connie Nielsen would be reprising her role as Lucilla, the mother of Lucius.
Pedro Pascal had been looking for a project to fill his time before production began on The Last of Us season 2. Deadline states that the actor had been considering a number of options, but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to join the cast of the Gladiator sequel. I don’t blame him.
As for The Last of Us, the series was an enormous success for HBO, who were quick to renew the series for a second season. The series takes place “20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed by a deadly virus. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone to the Fireflies, a cure-searching organization. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse across the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.” Production isn’t expected to begin until next year, which means that the second season likely won’t air until late 2024 or even early 2025.
The Last of Us showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have discussed their approach to the next stage of the story, which doesn’t necessarily involve adhering to the game’s story all the time. “Our process works. Our process of kicking the tires on everything, our process of agreeing that no matter how much we disagree, we will find a way to agree,” Mazin said. “There’s no veto power here. No one gets his way, it’s ‘we will figure it out.’ And to keep the writing process roughly what it was, which is pretty solitary and monk-like … I think we will be a little more efficient in our process, which means we’ll have more time to do some more complicated things.“
The Gladiator sequel is slated to hit theaters on November 22, 2024. What type of character do you see Pedro Pascal playing in Gladiator 2?