Culture

“I’m shaking”: Fans react to Gladiator 2’s Pedro Pascal saying he’d “enjoy” wrestling Paul Mescal

By Jordan Robledo

1st November 2024

Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal have sent fans into a frenzy with their latest social media video.

On 22 November, movie enthusiasts will finally be treated to the sequel to Ridley Scott’s highly anticipated film Gladiator II, a sequel of his 2000 hit film starring Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix.

Set over two decades after the events of the first Gladiator, the epic action feature follows Lucius Verus (Mescal), the son of Maximus (Crowe) and Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), who’s forced to follow in his father’s footsteps of Collessum fighting.

The official synopsis for the film reads: “Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist.

“With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honour to return the glory of Rome to its people.”

With the premiere date for Gladiator II only weeks away, promotional material for the film has been in full swing on social media.

One piece of content that has garnered particular interest from fans has been the ‘Mescal vs Pascal: Battle Edition’ video.

As the title suggests, the two talents were tasked with deciding who would win in a series of scenarios – including dancing, cooking and spelling.

However, when Joseph Quinn asked them who would win in a wrestling match, things took a very cheeky turn.

“I’m going to win that,” Mescal boldly stated, resulting in Pascal joking, “But I’m going to enjoy it.”

Shortly after the video was released, fans flocked to social media to share their hilarious and relatable reactions to the exchange.

One TwitterX user wrote: “And I’m gonna enjoy watching it like its paperview.”

Another fan commented: “The real winner is me, the viewer. Now, let’s get to it, boys!”

A third fan tweeted: “And I’m ready for the commotion.”

Mescal and Pascal’s wrestling video comes a week after the former opened up a cut kiss they shared in Gladiator II.

While speaking to Entertainment Weekly, The Normal People star revealed: “There was a moment when we were rehearsing my fight scene with Pedro, and I had an idea towards the end of the scene to kiss Pedro on the forehead.

“I did it in one of the takes, then we we’re getting the radio messages back to Ridley in video village, and I was like, ‘Ridley: Kiss on the forehead, did you like it? Yay or nay?’

While Mescal stated that Ridley liked the intimate improvisation, the shot unfortunately did not make the final cut.

Check out more fan reactions below.

Gladiator II is set to hit theatres on 22 November. Watch the latest trailer here or below.