How ‘Gladiator II’ Brought Maximus Back to Life

Among all of the preparation Paul Mescal did for his starring role in Gladiator II (out now), the sequel to Ridley Scott’s 2000 swords-and-sandals epic — hitting the gym six days a week and eating unholy amounts of chicken to add 18 pounds of muscle to his frame — some of the most intensive involved his fittings with costume designer David Crossman. In the spring of 2023, between morning workouts and evening performances in a West End adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire, taxied by motorcycle to Crossman’s London studio, where the staff took his measurements and used three-dimensional scans to create a lifelike mold of his body.

“I’ve always got Paul with no clothes on in my office,” Crossman says, referring to the mannequin-like Mescal replica that stood in his workspace. “So, it means we’ve got a very accurate picture of what Paul looks like.” 

In addition to working with that faux-Paul, Crossman squeezed in at least four fittings with the actor before shooting began, where Mescal tried on thigh-length leather kilts, loose tunics, and handcrafted body armor. Crossman also consulted with fellow costume designer Janty Yates, who won an Oscar for her work on the first film, to guide his team’s design of a silver-plated cuirass — sleeveless armor that covers the torso — that plays a pivotal part in the film.

Mescal’s character Lucius is — warning: spoilers ahead — the secret son of Russell Crowe’s Maximus. His mother, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen, reprising her role from the original film), sent him to the North African land of Numidia so he could grow up safely removed from the threats he would face in Rome. But when the conquering Romans march on Numidia, the simple farmer is dragged into a war with the motherland. He ends up sold into slavery, and, like his father, becomes a prized gladiator. Eventually, Lucius encounters the armor his father wore, placed on display in a kind of shrine for the other warriors to admire, and dons it himself for a battle where not just his own life but his mother’s is at stake. 
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“By the time he gets Maximus’ old armor,” Crossman says, “you’ve taken him from a Numidian farming boy to the Maximus iconic look at the end.”

Crossman looked to Rome’s Capitoline Museums to research helmet and breastplate designs for the $250 million film, and enlisted an army of global craftspeople to produce the costuming. A New Zealand-based team manufactured about 500 Roman infantry uniforms made of chainmail and segmented armor. A Bulgaria-based team crafted the Numidian armor and Roman cavalry gear. A London-based team created about 150 gladiator costumes made up of quilted padding, “armor” crafted from leather, and varying headgear. Then the breakdown department aged the leather, added rust and verdigris to the helmets, broke in the boots and sandals, and dyed the garments.

When it came to bringing Maximus’ breastplate to life, the team spared no detail. After acquiring an original from the first film, a team member digitally scanned it. Then a leather specialist handcrafted the cuirass to Mescal’s specifications. Finally, metallic embellishments were added to the piece to match Maximus’ vest. 

Roman military officers often decorated their breastplates with symbols of life milestones or achievements. According to Yates, it was Crowe’s idea to add a piece of silver to Maximus’ gladiatorial cuirass each time he defeated an adversary in the ring: two horses, a cedar tree in the center, two griffins at the base, his wife and son, and a goddess with laurels to represent victory. All were replicated for Mescal’s version as the team crafted six replica breastplates: two for Mescal, one for his stunt double, one for a riding double, one for underwater scenes, and a spare.
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“You have this hero one that you hope he’ll wear as much as possible,” Crossman explains, “because when you wear that leather armor, it forms to your body. The more you wear it, the better it looks.”

As Lucius steps into the ring wearing his father’s armor, publicly acknowledging his royal lineage, it’s a passing of the torch from father to son. Yates remembers her “jaw-on-chest” reaction when Mescal dons the signature piece for the first time, adding that she considers it “another star of the film.” 

“It could have been on the poster because he just looks terrific,” she says. “And it’s a throwback. So he’s got all of Russell’s energy behind him.”

For Yates and Crossman, bringing Maximus’ armor to new life not only pays homage to the 2000 classic but represents the young gladiator’s ascension from Numidian barbarian to an altruistic gladiator like his father. 

“You don’t get much talking out of Paul in this film,” Yates says. “You get a lot of action, but it’s like two words here or there. Then he comes up those stairs and into the arena, and he looks effing marvelous.”