'I Think They Got Chicken': Denzel Washington Reveals Gladiator II Cut His Gay 'Kiss of Death' Scene (2025)

Gladiator II returns 24 years after the original, with a brand-new cast which includes two-time Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington. Set to play Macrinus, a wealthy arms dealer who helps Paul Mescal's Lucius train to become a gladiator, the actor also had an important scene cut in the editing room.

Speaking to Gayety ahead of the film's premiere, Washington addressed "how gay is the Roman Empire." During the conversation, the actor also revealed that his scenes included a kiss with a man that led to the man's death. Unfortunately, the highly anticipated sequel won't feature the scene as it eventually got caught in the editing room.

"I kissed the man in the film, but they took it," Washington revealed. "I think they got chicken."

Washington weighed in about why the scene got caught. "I kissed a guy full on the lips and I guess they’re not ready for that," he said.

He further highlighted that the moment was not romantic, "I killed him about 5 minutes later. It’s Gladiator. It’s the kiss of death." A source further confirmed to The Post that the kiss was filmed, echoing Washington's words that it "wasn’t a sexy kiss."

Another scene that reportedly got cut in the editing room featured a forehead kiss between internet favorite Pedro Pascal and up-and-comer Paul Mescal.

"I didn’t tell Ridley I was gonna do it," Mescal told Cinema Blend. "And then I was nervous after we did it because I thought he was going to f–king hate it. So I nervously go over the radio being like, 'Ridley? Did you like the kiss on the forehead? Yay or nay?'" The Normal People star further recalled Scott responding, "I'm afraid I did."

“So I don’t know where it got lost in the edit, but I trust this man entirely, though. How he cuts his films,” Mescal explained. For his part, Scott responded he couldn't remember why he cut the scene before adding, "The director’s cut."

Gladiator II Has Encouraging Reviews

Since Gladiator II started releasing the first material for the film, the reaction has been widely positive. Gladiator remains a masterpiece and its impact on the sandal-and-sword and cinematography in general is undeniable. The first reactions to the film have been positive and now the sequel's Rotten Tomatoes score is encouraging.

Ridley Scott's Gladiator II debuted with an 84% score on Rotten Tomatoes, higher than the original's. As more reviews came in, the score slightly dropped but it was still enough to receive the Certified Fresh badge, holding a 76% approval rating. The new score is now slightly below the 2000's Gladiator, which has an approval rating of 79%.

This bodes well for the future of the franchise, as Ridley Scott teased he wants to make Gladiator 3. Lead actor Paul Mescal also recently told Variety that he's "massively down" to return to the universe. "Oh yeah, massively down," he said. "I don’t think it will be [24] years — but I have no idea when it will be." So far, the threequel is not confirmed. Whether Gladiator 3 happens will probably be determined by the movie's commercial success, given its massive budget of between $250 million and $310 million.

Gladiator II hits theaters internationally on Nov. 15 and will debut domestically on Nov. 22.

Source: Gayety, Cinema Blend

Gladiator II

Not Yet Rated

Director

Ridley Scott

Release Date

November 22, 2024

Cast

Paul Mescal , Pedro Pascal , Denzel Washington , Connie Nielsen , Joseph Quinn , Fred Hechinger , Derek Jacobi , May Calamawy , Peter Mensah , Matt Lucas , Alexander Karim , Tim McInnerny , Lee Charles , Chidi Ajufo , Alfie Tempest , Riana Duce , Chi Lewis Parry , Paul Candelent , Hadrian Howard , Alexander Simkin , Mikhail Basmadjian , Matthew Charlery-Smith , Maxime Durand , Lior Raz

Main Genre

Adventure

Distributor(s)

Paramount Pictures

prequel(s)

Gladiator