There’s a lot to love about the Gladiator II trailer.
Paul Mescal‘s muscles. Pedro Pascal in a fighting pit. Denzel Washington’s laugh. Director Ridley Scott still killing it at 86 years old. The Roman Colosseum being filled with water (!) and sharks (!!!). And — if you’re a normal person — the anachronistic use of “No Church In The Wild” by Jay-Z and Kanye West, ft. Frank Ocean and The-Dream.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of not-normal people out there, and they’re having a bit of a meltdown over the Watch The Throne single. There are many good reasons to object to Kanye; this is not one of them.
Here are some comments on the Gladiator II trailer on YouTube:
it smells *racist* in there https://t.co/kmTlYMriY8 pic.twitter.com/LrYGFRDofe
— Brian Haley (@brianchaley) July 9, 2024
These are the same people who still think “rap? more like crap” is the peak of comedy (something tells me they didn’t have any issues with the Queen-heavy soundtrack to A Knight’s Tale). But instead of focusing on them, let’s turn our attention to what really matters: a great f*cking trailer.
When No Church In The Wild started playing in that Gladiator trailer pic.twitter.com/BnQ8UEprTF
— Zach Mullis (@zmullis) July 9, 2024
Me @ the people bitching about the rap song in the Gladiator 2 trailer: pic.twitter.com/nkgop9Gjd0
— Lars (he/him) (@infamouslars) July 9, 2024
I think the song choice for the GLADIATOR II trailer is great, but even if I didn’t, I’d still take it over the plague of slow piano cover vomit any day of the week https://t.co/ehdgbAFixU
— VyceVictus (@VyceVictus) July 10, 2024
Fun fact: iirc the original Gladiator had a trailer that relied mostly on a Kid Rock song pic.twitter.com/eTyhCZG2x2
— Adrian Daub (@adriandaub) July 10, 2024
"why are they using modern rap music for the Gladiator trailer there wasn’t rap music in ancient Rome 🤓"
pic.twitter.com/J7Q1eahtP5— coffee sholmes (@eventualforever) July 9, 2024
"No Church in the Wild doesn't belong in a movie about gladi-" pic.twitter.com/hdDuCmkwp2
— Praetorian Gabriel (@cambregabriel19) July 9, 2024
no church in the wild in the gladiator ii trailer pic.twitter.com/yDPaxP3iMs
— madeline muad’dib atreides (@madeline_kel4) July 9, 2024
Seeing some white people get fake mad about the Gladiator 2 trailer using rap music will always been funny considering the original used fuckin KID ROCK.
— LEWIS M. (@LewisIzDope) July 10, 2024
Guy with an Irish accent playing a Roman gladiator but it’s the rap track over the trailer that people think is incongruous
— Tom Reagan’s Hat (@RufusTSuperfly) July 9, 2024
Here’s more on Gladiator II:
Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to its people.
Gladiator II comes out in theaters on November 22.
