10 Recent Movie Rumours That Were Totally WRONG
6. Russell Crowe Appears As A Vision/Ghost of Maximus - Gladiator II
The moment that Gladiator II was announced, many questioned whether the sequel might find a place for Russell Crowe to re-appear as the first film's iconic protagonist, Maximus Decimus Meridius.
Even accepting that Maximus heroically perished at the end of the original movie, there was absolutely no reason that Maximus couldn't appear to his son Lucius (Paul Mescal) or his former lover Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) as a vision in a dream or a spectral presence.
Simply, many didn't believe that Ridley Scott could resist the urge to bring Crowe back, no matter that Crowe has naturally aged noticeably in the near-quarter-century between films.
But in a surprising feat of restraint, Crowe is indeed nowhere to be seen throughout Gladiator II.
Given that the film's final scene sees Lucius mourning his parents in the Colosseum, and would've been a perfect moment to give Crowe a quick cameo, Scott avoided doing the most obvious, sentimental thing and let the moment be Paul Mescal's alone.