While Macrinus initially seems reminiscent of Gladiator's Antonius Proximo (Oliver Reed), the parallels do not last for long, as Macrinus ultimately becomes the sequel's overarching villain ...

Gladiator II | Macrinus (2024 Movie) - Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington For the entire movie, the audience is waiting for the other shoe to drop with Macrinus. He’s clearly scheming ...

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.

As Macrinus, Washington delivers his lines and flashes that smile as only he can, playing a character who we know from the beginning is sketchy. But Macrinus’ disdain for the bloodthirsty regime ...

Macrinus is a larger-than-life figure who looms over everyone around him, even the twin emperors of Rome. Yet Washington contrasts that with moments of quiet contemplation and even levity.

Elsewhere, Washington’s Macrinus has his own designs on power in Rome. Therein lies the Achilles’ heel of “Gladiator II” — there is simply too much plot to truly care about these characters.

How Macrinus Seizes Power. Macrinus (Denzel Washington) makes his power move by exploiting Emperor Caracalla (Fred Hechinger)’s resentment against his brother Geta (Joseph Quinn).

Macrinus had Caracalla bumped off and three days later the troops proclaimed Macrinus emperor. This was nothing to be sneezed at: Never before had an equestrian (i.e a non senator) ...

Draped in flowy silk capes and adorned with rattling, chunky gold, and silver rings, Denzel Washington embodies the flashiest villain and the colosseum’s bullpen organizer, Macrinus.In Gladiator ...

How Macrinus Seizes Power. Macrinus (Denzel Washington) makes his power move by exploiting Emperor Caracalla (Fred Hechinger)’s resentment against his brother Geta (Joseph Quinn).