Gladiator II may be one of the most anticipated movies of the year, but its high-octane trailer is allegedly being review-bombed by fans for one key reason.
Later this year, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator sequel starring Normal People’s Paul Mescal and The Last Of Us’ Pedro Pascal hits cinemas 24 years after the original premiered.
The movie, set two decades after the conclusion of Russell Crowe’s Gladiator sees 28-year-old Mescal taking over the role of Connie Nielsen’s son Lucilla.
The actors are also being joined by Denzel Washington, whose character is described as a power broker who minds a stable of gladiators.
If you haven’t seen the trailer yet, then check it out below:
While the three-minute trailer is brimming with drama, tension and captivating VFX, it seems as if everyone has the same problem.
At the time of writing, the official Gladiator II trailer has collected 14 million views and 141,000 upvotes.
But according to Looper, the sequel teaser has collected a whopping 210,000 dislikes and counting
But why so many downvotes on the trailer?
Well, it seems as if cinephiles have an issue with the soundtrack choice being Jay-Z and Kanye West’s 2012 collaboration track, ‘No Church in the Wild’.
The hip-hop record, which featured on the 2011 album Watch the Throne, has been selected to front our first look at Gladiator II – presumably because it includes the lyric: ‘Blood stains the Coliseum doors’.
Gladiator II stars Paul Mescal. (Universal Pictures)
However, as the original Gladiator movie favored classical epics over modern music, so it’s understandable why some fans have their hackles up about the song choice.
Taking to social media to have their say about the song choice, one viewer wrote: “When the rap starts playing, I thought Vin Diesel was going to show up with his V8 in the arena.”
A second said: “Great choice of music….. All that’s missing is Dom Toretto drifting round the Colosseum in a modified chariot.”
“When ‘training day’ antagonist went back in time to Rome to teach people how to rap before 21st century,” joked another viewer.
While a fourth typed: “Making an emergency call to Hans Zimmer.”
One fan claimed Ridley Scott should ‘call Hans Zimmer’ (Universal Pictures)
“The producers: We’ve got Denzel, let’s throw a rap song in there to emphasize the Roman Empire,” commented someone else.
Despite the rap track being used to promote the movie, it’s unlikely that Harry Gregson-Williams’ score will feature more Jay-Z and West.
The 62-year-old has previously worked on the music for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, as well as The Chronicles of Narnia and The Martian – so the historic epic is in safe hands.
Gladiator II will first release in the UK on November 15 before opening in US cinemas on November 22.