It’s been almost 25 years, but the Oscar-winning ‘Gladiator’ is back! Or at least a sequel!

It’s true that “Gladiator” star Russell Crowe can’t return as Maximus (for obvious reasons), but “Gladiator II” is packed with nostalgia, familiar characters and references to the 2000 film.

It’s also packed with much of the spectacle that made the first film such a success: brutal animal and human battles in the Colosseum, political intrigue, class struggle, and a hero fighting with single-minded purpose.

So what should we know about this sword-and-sandals epic before it opens wide on November 22? Here’s what you need to know.

Note: Mild spoilers are included for both films.

Do you have to watch ‘Gladiator’ to follow along with ‘Gladiator II’?

Not necessary, but it helps. The film’s most important fact: that Maximus had a son who ends up in the arena and leads a rebellion, is already part of the early trailers.

But it’s not crucial, as the film makes liberal use of flashbacks to the previous film to help fill in the blanks.

What is Lucius’ connection to the first ‘Gladiator’?

In ‘Gladiator’ Lucius is an incidental character.

The boy, played by Spencer Treat Clark, is the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), and his father is rumored to be Lucilla’s late husband, Lucius Verus (Lucius’ namesake).

By the way, Lucilla is the sister of the leader from the first film, Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix).

But us Also learn in that film that Lucilla had an on-again, off-again relationship with Maximus, so it’s not a huge surprise to discover that the script for “II” has recast Lucius (Paul Mescal) as a more important player: that is, Maximus’ son.

For his safety, the boy Lucius is shown being chased away and raised elsewhere – when he finally meets Lucilla in ‘II’, he claims he can barely remember her.

Who from the original ‘Gladiator’ will appear?

Aside from the actors in the flashbacks, there are two main characters who appear in “II” – Nielsen, who has remarried the man Lucius blames for the murder of his family, Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal) – and Derek Jacobi, who Senator Graccus plays. . In ‘Gladiator’ he was part of the plot with Maximus and Lucilla to overthrow Commodus.

And technically, Ridley Scott is also returning from the original ‘Gladiator’ – as director of both films. He was nominated for Best Director in 2001, so perhaps he hopes to win that Oscar this time.

How does Maximus play a role in the new film?

In a sense he is everywhere. Adult Lucius does not know that he is the son of Maximus, and he has worshiped the warrior all these years.

There are several callbacks that suggest their connection before it is explicitly stated: the image of Maximus running his hand through the grass of a wheat field appears early on, and when Lucius is in the arena, he plunges his sword into the ground, leans forward and let sand run through it. his hands – just like his father did.

Then during “Gladiator,” Maximus has a maxim he likes to share: “What we do in life echoes into eternity.” The aphorism appears in ‘II’ to give it depth and scope.

But Maximus’ greatest contribution to the film (aside from Lucius) comes when his son visits a tomb beneath the arena and is given his father’s armor and sword for a great challenge.

Who kept that up all these years? How does it look so shiny and spiffy? Why is it obviously a perfect fit for Lucius? These things can all be answered by whispering the name of a distant, future land far from Rome… Hollywood.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com