PAUL Mescal showcased his muscular body as he was pictured on the set of Gladiator 2 for the first time. The Normal People hunk, 28, has taken the mantle from Russell Crowe for the much-anticipated sequel and certainly looks the part as Roman Empire Lucius Veru. The character is the son of Lucilla, who appeared in the original film 23 years ago as a young boy played by Spencer Treat Clark.
Unlike his dead fictional uncle, Joaquin Phoenix 's cowardly and deceitful Commodus, Mescal's Lucius doesn't look battle shy in the new pics. Dressed in armour that bears a striking resemblance to that warn by Crowe's Army general Maximus Meridius, blood dripped from his head and he looked to have worked up a sweat in combat. His comrades can be seen sitting on a grassy field surrounded by soldiers on horseback.
While the plot is tightly under wraps, it looks like Lucius suffers a similar fate to Maximus as he was seen locked inside a barred trailer along with other soldiers. In other scenes, he is pictured wearing an earthy tunic when not wielding a weapon on the battlefield . Mescal looked to be relishing his role in the blockbuster and flashed a beaming smile when the cameras weren't rolling in Hove, East Sussex, England .
The first film raked in an impressive £460million at the box office. The plot was famously and succinctly laid out by Commodus in the film. He says of his bitter foe Maximus: "The general who became a slave.
The slave who became a gladiator. The gladiator who defied a.