According to the standard filming process, Gladiator II obviously deleted some scenes for the final theatrical version, and some of those changes were undoubtedly in the best interests of the story and the moviegoing experience. As it stands, Ridley Scott's historical epic sequel is two and a half hours long; however, it has become common knowledge that Scott cut hours of footage from Gladiator II. Most controversially and disappointingly, a character played by MCU actress May Calamawy was removed from Gladiator IIjust through some deleted scenes.
While some Gladiator II characters and relationships certainly could have used more screen time, specific scenes could have been awkward for character development or forced connections that weren't there. In the center of Gladiator IIThe story is the tense dynamic between Lucius (Paul Mescal), his estranged mother Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and her husband Acacius (Pedro Pascal). whom Lucius blames for his wife's death, as Acacius is the general of the army that invaded Numidia. While Gladiator IIReviews suggest there was room for improvement in this storyline, a deleted scene wouldn't have been the answer.
A younger Acácio was originally part of the flashback in which Lucilla sends Lucius away
Acácio helps Lucila get Lúcio out of Rome in the Gladiator 2 script
The recently released full roadmap for Gladiator II (through Deadline) reveals that a younger Acácio was originally part of the flashback in which Lucilla sends Lucius away from Rome as a child. The film shows other people helping Lucilla, but none of them have any substantial narrative role beyond making Lucius' escape from Rome more plausible. In the deleted part of the scene, Lucilla is “overcome with emotion“about sending his son away, which led Acácio to give him stern guidance about being the”future of Rome“before Lúcio left.
It's easy to understand why the interaction was cut when the scene is one of the few sincere moments between Lucius and Lucilla in the film. and their relationship should be at the forefront of the scene. Lucila will also have to live with her decision for the rest of her life, and facing it alone for the moment, rather than needing Acácio to talk to Lúcio because she can't deal with it, is more true to her steely characterization – just one of the ways this moment would have hindered character development.
Lucilla meeting Acaius later is more interesting for her and Lucius' characters
Some distance and lack of communication is actually better for the Gladiator 2 story
In other words, trying to incorporate Acácio even more into the plot of Gladiator would have begun to enter the territory of invention. Acácio exists off-screen in Gladiator as a junior officer in the Roman army, but it is not otherwise suggested that Lucilla knew him at that time; the most important relationships in his life were with Lucius and Maximus. It would imply more unpredictability in Lucilla's life if, after having chosen to remain alone in Rome, she unexpectedly found someone in whom she could trust her plans and have a happy marriage.
About that, Gladiator II makes better use of the concept of dramatic irony if Lúcio has never met Acácio before; the story already brings a balance of Lúcio starting to respect Acácio but without much affection between them. Acacius having trained with Maximus is a good story build and creates a legitimate connection between him, Lucilla and Lucius. However, the fact that Acacius apparently didn't become a major player in Rome's politics until later helps it seem like more actually happened in the characters' lives between the two films.
Source: Deadline