Denzel Washington in 'Gladiator 2′: Here's what the director has confirmed about his role as a freedman

More than two decades after the death of Maximus Decimus Aurelius, the Roman Republic was not restored. After the death of Commodus, other emperors came and the decline only worsened. In ‘Gladiator 2′, the Roman Empire is ruled by the tyrant Caracalla, who once again puts the most powerful civilization of the time on the ropes. While some fight it out in the coliseums, others make deals behind the scenes. Such is the case with Denzel Washington’s character, who plays a former gladiator who has come of age, though his name is not yet known. Ridley Scott revealed some of the keys to Total Film:

The American filmmaker recalled that some gladiators could earn their freedom by winning enough victories. “So we went right into that, in-depth. Where did he come from? How was he taken? He was branded with marks and registered with a brand on his chest as a slave. So that’s how he comes into the story” The veteran director also commented that Washington managed to break free of his chains and reverse his situation, but at the same time assured that he does not forgive the Romans for what happened to him in the past: “He’s a rich guy who’s still carrying a grudge.”

The man who runs everything in the shadows

Washington will play a freedman, a former slave who has grown rich selling weapons and resources to the Roman Empire, making him more wealthy than some senators. The emperors were constantly staging military campaigns to expand their borders or contain their enemies. Without knowing all of his faces, it is known that he was captured in Africa and that when he was released, he began to want more and more power. It seems that in the movie he will focus his attention on the two emperors (Geta and Caracalla, although the latter murdered his brother and remained as sole Caesar), so it is expected that he will be part of a conspiracy to overthrow them. In the behind-closed-doors trailer, he even goes so far as to say that “Rome must fall” and that it just “needs a push”. On the other hand, he has a company of gladiators at his command.

‘Gladiator 2′ will be released in theaters only on November 22nd.