Two-panel image. On the left, Paul Mescal lightly smiles in a blue collared shirt. On the right, Pedro Pascal smiles in a white t-shirt under a black suit jacket.

Although Pride Month is officially over, the gays are eating well on the first day of July.

And it’s all thanks to director Ridley Scott.

In a new feature for Vanity Fair, we got our first look at the upcoming Gladiator II, which hits theaters in November, but more importantly, stars certified hunks Pedro Pascal and Paul Mescal.

Both actors put some serious effort into bulking up for their roles –– and it’s safe to say their hard work paid off!

The film picks up a few years after the 2000 original (where a very muscular Russell Crowe embedded himself into our memory) ended.

Mescal portrays the grown-up version of Lucius, who was last seen as the child of Connie Nielsen’s noblewoman character.

And while Scott told Vanity Fair that he was instantly drawn to the short-shorts aficionado after seeing his star-making role in Hulu’s Normal People, Mescal has his own theories.

“My nose is just kind of Roman,” he told the outlet. “So it’s useful in this context. The nose that I absolutely hate when I was in secondary school –– and used to get ribbed for –- became very, very useful when Ridley needed somebody to be in Gladiator II.”

Pascal, on the other hand, portrays Roman general Marcus Acacius, a fighter he says has “learned from the best.”

Of course, the two go head-to-head in some “pretty gnarly” scenes in the upcoming flick and they already sound epic.

“It’s brutal, man. I call him Brick Wall Paul,” Pascal told VF. “He got so strong. I would rather be thrown from a building than have to fight him again. To go up against somebody that fit and that talented and that much younger … Outside of Ridley being a total genius, Paul is a big reason as to why I would put my poor body through that experience.”

Mescal’s strength makes a lot of sense, considering his preparation for the movie was specifically focused on mass and muscle growth –– not looking good. Although that’s definitely an added bonus!

“I just wanted to be big and strong and look like somebody who can cause a bit of damage when sh*t hits the fan,” he explained. “I think also, sometimes, one could, in striving for that perfect look, end up looking more like an underwear model than a warrior.”

Aside from the obvious eye candy, we’re excited to see co-stars Denzel Washington and Joseph Quinn, as well as how Scott continues his storytelling around the epic Roman empire. As he told Vanity Fair, it’s a time-old tale that continues to have modern-day parallels.

“The leadership is in total chaos,” he explained. “The people who are in charge are out of their minds, and everyone is too afraid to contradict. That’s familiar ground right now.”

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