Pedro Pascal and Paul Mescal have many things in common. Most notably, they’re sharing screen time in the upcoming epic, Gladiator II. They also share names that begin with “P” and end with “scal.” And, of course, they’re two men who never fail to get the internet talking.
Today is no exception. When the trailer for Ridley Scott’s long-awaited Gladiator sequel hit the internet, it sparked many spicy reactions, thanks to performances from Mescal, Pascal, and scene-stealer Denzel Washington.
And for good reason. This trailer has everything: It depicts Roman decadence, Washington at the top of his game, A Quiet Place Day One‘s Joseph Quinn and Thelma‘s Fred Hechinger on freak mode…and the most thigh-in-motion since Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers.
X / Twitter users quickly posted stills and gifs from the trailer in an appropriately excited fashion.
One Pascal fan captioned a collage of images of the Last of Us actor in the trailer, “pedro pascal in gladiator 2 is the hottest a man has ever or will ever look.” A Mescal lover countered, “im rly not going to survive this movie.” Meanwhile, a Washington aficionado wrote, “The lesson is actually that there is no one — no one — like Denzel.”
Others noted Pascal’s costuming. One said, “HE GOT THAT SHIT ON.”
Jokes about Mescal also rolled in, with someone making a Hunger Games reference due to him wielding a bow and arrow. They wrote, “welcome back Katniss Everdeen.” Another said, “paul mescal practiced running for this” — a nod to an unverified internet joke that Mescal runs away from his dates.
Needless to say, this is many people’s new Roman Empire.
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