Paul Mescal stars in Ridley Scott’s long-awaited sequel to Gladiator. Gladiator II heading to theaters on November 22, and the story picks up in the years after Russell Crowe’s Maximus gave his life. The central character portrayed by Mescal is Lucius, last seen as the young son of Lucilla, Connie Nielsen’s noblewoman from the original movie. Vanity Fair today has released our first look at the film through images. Check them out below!

Vanity Fair also had some insight on the story of Gladiator II specifically Mescal’s character background. The insight comes from Connie Nielsen who plays Mescal’s mother in the film

As Gladiator II picks up her story, decades have passed and Lucius has come of age far away from his mother. While he was still a child, Lucilla sent him to the northern coast of Africa, to a region called Numidia that was (at that point) just outside the reach of the Roman Empire. He never fully understood why, and as he grew stronger, so did his resentment—even if his mother’s reasons had been pure. “There’s a lot of Sophie’s Choice going on here, where these are impossible situations that we are being forced to reckon with,” says Nielsen. “There is an authoritarian power that is parading as if it were still somehow the vestiges of a Republican government. Inside of this travesty are human beings who are caught in this gamesmanship and power. That is what I find always so interesting in Ridley’s stories. He’s really showing the effect of power on people and what happens in a place where power is unrestrained.”

We are beyond excited for the film and apparently a trailer is on the way next week. Are you excited for the new Gladiator film? Let us know in the comments below. Gladiator II is set to hit theaters on November 22.