The finale of ‘Gladiator II’ is a tribute to the first film. Here’s what it could mean for a future sequel.

• The ending of “Gladiator II” pays tribute to Russell Crowe’s character in “Gladiator”.

• The new sequel has many parallels to the first film.

• Here’s what you need to know about the film’s conclusion and why there might be another sequel.

“Gladiator II” doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, but there may still be room for another sequel.

The new film struggles with “Evil” to the top spot at the box office this week after both films opened in the US on the same day.

Scott, who directed the first two films, said Total movie in October that he had started a script. “I already have eight pages. I’ve got the beginnings of a very good footprint,” Scott said.

Spoilers ahead for “Gladiator” and “Gladiator II.”

‘Gladiator II’ repeats many beats from the first film.

The first film, which premiered in 2000 and won 5 Oscars, followed a Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe), an honorable Roman general whose wife and child are killed when a new emperor takes power.

After becoming a much-loved gladiator, Maximus takes part in a failed coup to turn Rome into a democracy. When this fails, the emperor mortally wounds Maximus and challenges him in the Colosseum, where they both die.

As Maximus is dying, he urges the people to follow the dream of the old emperor, Marcus Aurelius.

Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), Aurelius’ daughter, then makes a rousing speech about Maximus’ death not being in vain.

Rome is still a mess in “Gladiator II,” set 16 years after the first film.

The sequel repeats many of the first film’s beats with a few new developments.

Instead of a tyrannical emperor, there are twins: Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) and Geta (Joseph Quinn).

But the real twist is that both antagonists are killed by the real villain, Marcinus (Denzel Washington), a power broker who creates chaos to take over Rome.

Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal), the new head general and Lucilla’s new husband, organizes a coup against the emperors, as Maximus did.

As in the first film, the coup is foiled and Acacius is killed in the Colosseum.

The protagonist of the sequel is Lucilla’s son, Lucius (Paul Mescal). After the first film, Lucilla sends her son beyond the Empire for his own safety, causing him to hate Rome and his mother.

At the beginning of the film, Rome attacks Lucius’ new home. He is captured, becomes a gladiator and learns from his mother that his father was Maximus.

Lucius eventually accepts his role as leader when he hears that his mother will be executed for her part in Acacius’s coup. He sends a messenger to Acacius’ militia to storm Rome and leads a group of gladiators to break out of their prison and attempt to rescue Lucilla.

The gladiators overpower the Roman guards, but Marcinus kills Lucilla before riding out of the Colosseum to meet Acacius’ militia with his own army. Lucius chases and defeats Marcinus before the two armies can attack each other.

Lucius then wins over both armies with an inspiring speech about how he will rebuild Rome just as father, Maximus, and grandfather, Aurelius, would have wanted.

The hero will stay alive this time to ensure that Rome is restored to greatness.

There is a small homage to Maximus’ death scene at the end.

In the final scene of the sequel, Lucius returns to the Colosseum to see where his mother died and mourn his fallen loved ones.

Calling back to Maximus and Lucius’ favorite ritual, Lucius picks up dirt on the ground, looks up to the sky, and asks his father for advice. Then there is a brief shot of a hand touching a field of wheat before the film ends.

It is unclear if the clip was reused from the old film or if it was reshot.

It’s an ambiguous ending, but suggests that Maximus’ spirit is still present to help Lucius.

Fans of the first film may remember that wheat fields in the first film symbolized the afterlife. Throughout the film, the audience sees glimpses of this wheat field, and when Maximus dies, we see him fully in the field, walking to his wife and child.

With Lucius still alive and apparently the new Emperor of Rome, a third film could explore his attempts to save Rome and the new villains who will rise to stop him.

Mescal told Black at the London premiere of “Gladiator II” last week that he would be “massively down” to appear in the next sequel.

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