How ‘Gladiator 2’ Turns Denzel Washington Into a Villain

SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot points, including the ending for “Gladiator II,” currently playing in theaters.

All hail Macrinus!

In a world of political backstabbing, power and ambition, Denzel Washington’s Macrinus enters the arena in Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II” with troops and guards under a canopy. He reeks of wealth and oozes power. The role has been a favorite of fans and critics, and Washington is earning some serious Oscar buzz.

Scott’s sequel picks up 16 years after the original “Gladiator” ends. It tells the story of Lucius (Paul Mescal) whose town is attacked by Roman soldiers. The invasion leads to tragedy as Lucius’ wife is killed and he’s captured as a prisoner.

Enter Macrinus, a wealthy trader who spots Lucius and buys him for his own. But audiences aren’t quite sure of Macrinus and his motives at first. It’s clear he’s a powerful player in all of this, but whether his intentions are good or bad isn’t immediately clear. Scott and his go-to team of collaborators told Macrinus’ story by planting clues to his true nature.

Scott explains the idea behind Macrinus’ past. Washington’s character had been a prisoner of war, taken to Rome and turned into fodder for the arena. Still, “he earned his way out as a good gladiator,” says Scott. The idea was he eventually earned his freedom “maybe by getting a job as a supplier to the armies of Rome.”

Macrinus rides under a canopy, and cinematographer John Mathieson says, “He’s remarkable looking. He’s very bling, flamboyant and he’s robed, and he’s obviously not from Rome, but he has done very well. He’s deeply mischievous, treacherous, and you feel that. He is incredibly polite and kind, even to those who owe him money.”

Composer Harry Gregson-Williams, who stepped in for Hans Zimmer to score the film’s music, echoed this through his score: “We know we’re kind of attracted to him because he’s kind of a cool character, but he’s a slippery character.”  When it came to Macrinus’ musical motif, he relied on the electric baritone violin and electric cello to hint at who he was. “I created this motif that is slippery and slides around.”  

Thematically, Macrinus’ material was “quite creepy that evolves into something much bolder” to reflect his scheming ways and ambition as he navigates his way through the halls of power in Rome.

Production designer Arthur Max, who worked on the first “Gladiator” film, knew Macrinus would need a visual motif. In meeting with his fellow department heads, art was a huge inspiration for Macrinus — in particular Jean-Léon Gérôme — his 1872 Pollice Verso painting and other works by the artist.

Max says, “He comes from the polytheistic pagan world of ancient Rome, which he’s a part of, they adopted gods from the animal world. We decided to give him two motifs and distributed those throughout his universe; one was the wolf and the other one was the snake.”

The double snake motifs could be seen on the flags his troops were carrying, and the wolf heads could be seen around the curvature of his chariot — all hinting to the true nature of this man.

Wealth was also reflected in Washington’s costumes, with rich fabrics draped over his 15 total tunics for every costume change. He collaborated closely with costume designer Janty Yates to build his look. At one point, there was an idea of putting him in a headpiece, but since Scott nor Washington liked the idea, it was quickly nixed. Yates says, “But Denzel did wear the earrings, which was great because that gives him a slightly off-center feel. It was brilliant.” They were clip-on earrings because Washington didn’t have pierced ears.

When Macrinus is in the suburban colosseum with the baboons, his outfit is subtle and majestic. Once he goes to Rome, he sits in the royal box alongside the Emperors. Yates used original hand-embroidered drapes. One particular outfit is the green drape which was encrusted in jewels. Yates says, “It was bought in Milan from a man who imports ancient Indian fabrics and embroidery.” He also wore a bit of leopard skin print.

Scott says Washington embraced his silk, and the idea of his adjusting his fabrics was his idea. “He chose to do that. That’s Denzel. He’s so inventive. I thought that’s really amusing.”

But it also spoke to his character. Makeup artist Jana Carboni didn’t want to get in the way of Washington’s performance. She says, “We decided to go for something simple and straightforward. So the idea was to make him look very groomed and, in a way, vain. He wasn’t too loud because he needed to be chameleon-like and fit in everywhere. Also, we kept it simple because he was going to play with his jewelry.” The only tweak that was made was to his hair. “I said, ‘It’d be lovely if we could bring the silvery-gray out in your hair,’ and he loved the idea.”

As Mescal’s Lucius hopes for and fights for a better Rome, Macrinus has other plans: a bloodthirsty quest for revenge. Twin emperors, played by Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger, stand in his way.

“He’s a very sinister mercurial character,” says cinematographer John Mathieson.

Scott says that Macrinus always coveted the throne, but the more time he spends around the emperors “the throne is becoming, ultimately, very practical. His plan might have been,’ I will wait until one of the twins dies, I can’t do anything else because otherwise it’d be too obvious, but then things start to present themselves to him as possibility.”

Mathieson made sure to capture Macrinus, even when he was in the shadows, lurking. “I always put a ping of light in his eyes,  these eyes that are just going through you. I made sure I caught him.”

When the twins fall out, Scott says Macrinus has found a window and he seizes it. “I can get rid of one of these.”

Yates dressed him in a white jacquard silk draped fabric with gold trim. “I wanted to keep him very elegant, but simple.” She explains, “He had reached the point where he was so close to the emperors, we wanted him to look sort of almost innocent.”

Except the irony was that he wasn’t, and he seized that moment and beheads one of them. Yes, Macrinus is the true villain of the film, but it’s up to Lucius to restore order and power to Rome and defeat him.

For his last scene, Yates put Macrinus in a majestic peacock blue tunic. Macrinus and Lucius face one another in an epic fight in a river that Max and his team built. It doesn’t end well for Macrinus. Lucius slices off his arm with a sword, and one final swing ends him.

Says Scott, “I think he earned the right to die that way. 100 percent. What a bad guy. He still had a little bit of the gladiator in him, and was a good warrior. You see that come out with Paul’s character, he fights dirty.”

Scott likens the final fight to an alleyway fight – fighting dirty. That’s what Lucius had to do. ”One of them had to die.”