Much has been said about Russell Crowe’s absence in the new Gladiator follow-up.

The now 60-year-old actor won an Oscar for Best Actor in 2001 for his role in the first film as Maximus, a former Roman general who has to fight for his life in the Colosseum. (Gladiator won five of twelve nominations that year, including Best Picture.)

Why isn’t Crowe back for the new installment? First off – spoiler alert – Maximus died at the end of the first film. Gladiator II Set 16 years after his death, his legacy looms large in Rome.

This time Paul Mescal stars as Lucius, the son of Maximus who is also enslaved and becomes a gladiator. (Lucius was played as a child in the first film by Spencer Treat Clark, now 37.)

Crowe previously expressed his feelings of FOMO after not being included in the sequel, which is once again being directed by Ridley Scott. In 2023, he told Collider that he was “a little jealous” because, looking back, “I was obviously a much younger man, and it was a huge experience in my life.” Crowe added that Gladiator still “holds a special place in my heart.”

Then, in June 2024, Crowe said on a podcast that it was “somewhat awkward” for him since his character “is dead, and I have no say in what happens” in future storylines: “I can’t say anything. That’s not so.” my place, I’m six feet underground,” he said at the time.

Two OG cast members reprise their roles: Connie Nielsen and Derek Jacobi. New cast members range from Denzel Washington to Pedro Pascal and Joseph Quinn.

Mescal, 28, has been open about not feeling compelled to reach out to Crowe before leading the new leadership Gladiator film. “At the end of the day, I have to be on my own with this. … You can’t rely on anyone but the script, the director and yourself,” he told Extra. Director Scott, 86, said at the time: “I’ll add to that: Why would Roger Moore call Sean Connery (for a James Bond movie)? … What’s he going to do that for?”

Mescal said, “What I would like to discuss with Russell is trade war stories. … We’ve had similar experiences with it.”

Scott, who has teased that a third film could happen, also mentioned it Extra there was a scrapped version of a sequel script where Maximus came back from the afterlife: ‘The only way to bring him back from the dead was to bring him back through a dying warrior. …I said, ‘The only problem, Russell, is that you look like the dying warrior, so it can’t be you.’ So it never really worked.”

Ultimately, the team settled on continuing the story. Scott told Empire“The plot was right under our noses, honestly. I think it was so close to our noses that we thought it was too simple. I think (Crowe) is still one of the best actors in the world, and I think We I hope that’s the case. As long as he doesn’t start complaining about not being consulted, why should I be dead?’

Crowe does appear on screen in the new film via throwback bits from the first film, and his character is name-checked frequently. Additionally, a close-up in the film’s final moments shows a glimpse of a hand somewhat similar to Maximus’s in the afterlife, although no face is ever shown.

Gladiator II is in theaters now. Gladiator is currently streaming on Paramount+.