Gladiator 2 Means Denzel Washington Could Equal An Oscars Feat Only 7 Actors In History Have Managed

The upcoming release of Gladiator II could spell Oscar history for one of its biggest draws, 2-time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington. Gladiator II is the highly-anticipated followup to Ridley Scott’s iconic 2000 original that won 5 Oscars, including Best Actor for Russell Crowe and Best Picture. Often considered high on the list of Ridley Scott’s best movies, the original Gladiator has cemented itself as one of the greatest films of the 21st century. Scott has already declared Gladiator II as one of his all-time greats, raising the bar even higher for what is poised to be the biggest action epic of 2024.

Washington and Oscar nominee Paul Mescal (Aftersun, All of Us Strangers) lead the impressive cast of Gladiator II, which also features appearances by Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian), Connie Nielson (Gladiator), Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things), and Derek Jacobi (Gladiator). Washington will play Macrinus, a brand-new character in the world of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator franchise who is a high-ranking and wealthy arms dealer. Macrinus “supplies food for the armies in Europe, supplies wine and oil, makes steel, makes spears, weapons, cannons, and catapults. Instead of having a stable of racehorses, he has a stable of gladiators,” Scott told Vanity Fair.

Gladiator II
releases in theaters on November 22, 2024.

Denzel Washington Is Back In Oscars Contention For Gladiator 2

He was last nominated for 2021’s The Tragedy of Macbeth

Denzel Washington has found himself back in the Oscar race with his upcoming role as Macrinus in Gladiator II. He’s already getting buzz for Best Supporting Actor although there has even been talk of him going for Best Actor as well alongside Paul Mescal’s Lucius protagonist. It’s likely that Scott, who directed Washington in his celebrated 2007 crime film American Gangster, which remains Washington’s biggest box office hit to this day, gave Washington one of the biggest and most interesting roles in the movie. Whether Washington will enter the race for Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor, he’s poised to be in the 2025 Oscar conversation.

The pairing of Mescal and Washington is one of the most exciting features of Gladiator II as well as the expansion of Russell Crowe’s Maximus legacy from the original film with Mescal’s Lucius playing his son. Washington, who will turn 70 this December, has only starred in one feature film since 2021’s The Tragedy of Macbeth directed by Joel Coen, which earned him his 10th overall Oscar nomination and seventh Best Actor nomination. Mescal, on the other hand, is still in the early chapters of his outstanding acting career and is an early favorite in this year’s Best Actor category, which would mark his second Best Actor nomination after 2022’s Aftersun.

Denzel Washington Winning For Gladiator 2 Would Be His Third Oscar

He would enter an elite category with Jack Nicholson & Meryl Streep

Denzel Washington has previously won two acting Oscars, a Best Actor Oscar for 1989’s Glory directed by Edward Zwick and a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for 2001’s Training Day directed by Antoine Fuqua. This puts him in an elite category of actors who have won two Academy Awards in acting categories, including Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, and Tom Hanks. Washington winning a third Oscar in an acting category would place him in even more rarefied air along the likes of industry legends such as Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, Daniel Day-Lewis, Walter Brennan, Ingrid Bergman, and Frances McDormand.

Katharine Hepburn remains the all-time leader of Academy Award winners in acting categories with a total of four Oscars, the only actor or actress to ever achieve such a feat. Hepburn won Best Actress for Morning Glory (1933), Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968) and On Golden Pond (1981). If Washington were to be nominated for his role in Gladiator II but come up short in either the Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor race, he would only be behind Bette Davis (11) as the 2-time Academy Award-winning actor with the most acting nominations (10). He’s currently tied at 9 with Spencer Tracey.

Who Is Denzel Washington’s Competition At The 2025 Oscars?

Washington is an early favorite in the Supporting Actor category

Assuming that Washington will be nominated in the 2025 Oscar Supporting Actor category, he will likely be one of if not the favorite nominee among his peers. While it’s still early, expert predictions are currently circling names such as Guy Pearce (The Brutalist), Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain), Stanley Tucci (Conclave), Clarence Maclin (Sing Sing), Samuel L. Jackson (The Piano Lesson), and John Turturro (The Room Next Door). Given the impact that Gladiator II is likely to have at the 2025 Oscars and potentially film history, Denzel Washington is in a great position to make history himself by locking in his third Academy Award.