The Marvel Star Whose Scenes Were Cut From Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2

Director Ridley Scott hasn’t built such a legacy over his career by doing things halfway, as shown by the early reactions to his latest epic “Gladiator II” (you can check out /Film’s review by Chris Evangelista here for more on that). Still, the long-awaited sequel might be making more headlines these days for what’s not in it than what actually is. We recently heard it straight from star Denzel Washington that the blockbuster cut a gay kiss between his character and another. Of course, it wouldn’t be out of character in the least for Scott to resort to an extended director’s cut of the movie sometime down the line and restore even more deleted footage that ended up on the cutting room floor. Now, overseas audiences who’ve seen “Gladiator II” a smidge earlier than the rest of us are noticing that an actor best known for her Marvel work also didn’t make the theatrical version of the film … and there are competing theories as to why.

“Gladiator II” features a jam-packed ensemble led by the trio of Paul Mescal, Washington, and Pedro Pascal, but at one point the cast would’ve been even larger. Back in May of 2023, Variety reported that May Calamawy (best known for her starring role as Layla El-Faouly/Scarlet Scarab in the Disney+ series “Moon Knight”) would appear in an undisclosed role, yet her character is almost entirely missing from the final product. Only the most eagle-eyed viewers might ever even notice the precious few moments she appears in the background of a select handful of scenes, but ultimately Calamawy’s character has no bearing on the plot whatsoever. So, what happened? What role was she originally meant to have and are there any remaining clues as to what her purpose was supposed to be?

We’ll be steering clear of major story specifics here, but the extremely spoiler-adverse fans among us may want to tread carefully from this point onward.

If your filmography includes a major franchise like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a historical drama from Ridley Scott, you must be doing something right as an actor. Unfortunately, May Calamawy’s second major casting ultimately wasn’t to be, as the version of “Gladiator II” that audiences will be seeing in theaters this month (which comes in under the runtime of the original “Gladiator”) doesn’t include the character she was meant to portray. This won’t be a major surprise to fans who’ve been closely following along, however, as the actor recently confirmed this sad state of affairs during London Comic Con, held in the UK this past weekend. According to a social media post by a fan in attendance, Calamawy affirmed that she won’t be appearing prominently in “Gladiator II,” but has fond memories of her filming experience anyway — even sharing scenes with Denzel Washington himself:

“[May Calamawy] says although she’s sad her character’s story didn’t make it to [‘Gladiator II’], it was one of the best experiences of her life. She loved working with Denzel Washington and said it was the coolest and she felt immediately comfortable with him.”

While not the most detailed information, this at least helps narrow down exactly what role she would’ve played in the film. Working alongside Washington’s Macrinus, a character described as a “Roman businessman who has amassed enormous wealth thanks to his acumen and brutal ambition,” implies that Calamawy would’ve been involved in the gladiatorial sequences with Paul Mescal’s Lucius to a certain extent — though not necessarily during the fights themselves. However, a closer look at some of the cast of “Gladiator II” characters might shed some light on what exactly she would’ve been up to in the highly-anticipated sequel.

Unless Ridley Scott directly addresses this at some point, we may never know what May Calamawy’s original role would’ve been in “Gladiator II” and, most crucially, why she was left out of the story almost entirely — but that’s not stopping fans from pouring over every little detail in the blockbuster in an attempt to figure it out for themselves, anyway. It’s worth noting that Calamawy is of Egyptian and Palestinian descent, adding a potentially controversial and disturbing subtext to the decision to remove her from the film. (Actor Melissa Barrera underwent a blacklisting of sorts after her vocal support of Palestinian survivors of genocide in Gaza, while “Captain America: Brave New World” came under fire for the inclusion of an Israeli superhero.) However, it appears that there might be a more benign explanation with regards to “Gladiator II.”

One Reddit post purports to have the answer behind Calamawy’s absence from the movie. According to one user, the leading fan-theory is that she would’ve portrayed a character that, in the final version, is named Ravi and is played by Alexander Karim. Though not featured very prominently in the marketing, we know that Ravi is a doctor who attends to the wounds Lucius sustains from fighting in the arena. The Reddit user alleges that “Ravi’s scenes feel like very last-minute additions and the editing is off,” which can be explained away by the notion that Calamawy could’ve filled a similar narrative role and even served as a love interest to Lucius while binding up his wounds. So, why pivot away from this? Setting aside that this would’ve been yet another subplot in a movie already full of subplots, it also might’ve muddied up Lucius’ motivations. Loosely speaking, our hero is attempting to avenge the death of his family; adding a romantic complication might very well have felt like an unnecessary distraction.

Whatever the case may be, moviegoers will have a chance to make their own judgment when “Gladiator II” hits U.S. theaters November 22, 2024.