He might have died a heroic rock star death on Stranger Things, but Joseph Quinn is ready to trade one weapon (a guitar) for another (a sword or dagger or whatever they used in Roman times before guns took over).
The actor is set to star in Ridley Scott’s recently-announced Gladiator sequel, which is led by 2022’s golden boy Paul Mescal, Barry Keoghan, and Denzel Washington. Russell Crowe, on the other hand, might be in Italy, but he is very busy at the Vatican and probably won’t pop by for a quick battle.
Quinn is slated to star as Roman Emperor Caracalla, and if you skipped 10th-grade global history, then you might not know that Caracalla was often regarded as one of the worst leaders of his time. On the bright side, he helped make all those Roman baths, so you can thank him for keeping the Romans clean and sweaty. Then, like most Roman rulers, he was (spoiler alert) assassinated. This is how men make history!
The original flick starred Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, and Oliver Reed. The sequel will follow Mescal as Lucius, the son of Nielsen’s character from the first film, who will don some armor and probably fight some people. Plot details are pretty slim, but if it’s anything like the first one, you can expect a lot of yelling and violence. Just like The Pope’s Excorist!