When Gladiator hit theaters in the summer of 2000, there were no post-credits scenes teasing sequels. There were no plans for a Gladiator expanded universe. The very idea of a post-credits scene or an expanded universe would have been strange, as the superhero movie boom was still in its primordial stage, and neither of those concepts had found their way into moviegoing and moviemaking parlance. The first Gladiator was just a movie—a crowd-pleasing, sword and sandals epic for the modern age. It had a beginning, a middle, and even an end. It won Best Picture, and everyone went on with their lives. There wasn't supposed to be another one.
And yet, now, 24 years later, there is, somehow, for some reason, another one.
