Director Ridley Scott details the original wild plan for Gladiator 2 which would have seen Russell Crowe return as Maximus. A sequel to the Best Picture-winning from 2000, Gladiator 2 follows the Oscar-nominated Paul Mescal as an older Lucius and is set for a release on November 22, 2024. However, years prior, there was a previous version of the script written by Nick Cave which would have seen Maximus resurrected and allowed Crowe to return as the character.
https://screenrant.com/gladiator-2-maximus-return-how-story-plan-original/