The One Thing Everyone Hates About The Gladiator 2 Trailer

The epic first trailer for "Gladiator II" teases a fight to the death between Paul Mescal's and Pedro Pascal's characters, indicating that the film will be full of action and drama. If that's not enough, the Roman Colosseum also plays host to some naval battles, sharks, and rhinos. Despite all of the entertaining carnage on display, however, some fans can't look past the trailer's use of Jay-Z, Kanye West, Frank Ocean, and The Dream's hit "No Church in the Wild."

Released in 2011, "No Church in the Wild" is a hip-hop jam that appears on Jay Z and West's collaborative "Watch the Throne" album. It's a good song on its own, but some folks don't want it to accompany the trailer for a Ridley Scott historical epic, despite the lyrics referencing bloodstained colosseums. "Why is there modern rap music over it, they took the heart and soul out of it with the incredible score of the first one," X (formerly known as Twitter) user @iamsikora wrote. Where's Hans Zimmer when you need him?

This view was echoed by Redditor u/_Dave_, who claims that it makes the movie seem amateurish. "Was cool until No Church started... Modern popular song over Gladiator felt very high school film project to me."

"Gladiator" is one of the biggest Ridley Scott movies of all time, so the sequel is highly anticipated. However, the trailer's song choice has seemingly soured some people on the upcoming second installment. "I'm a massive Gladiator fan, and the music for this trailer just took me out completely. It just does not fit the tone set by the original movie at all," Redditor u/Murasasme noted.

Elsewhere, some people believe that the song was included only because the movie landed a certain big-name star. "The producers: We got [Denzel], let's throw a rap song in there to emphasize the Roman Empire," YouTuber @avairal5936 quipped in the trailer's comments section. 

The song also caught the attention of "Hellboy" co-writer Peter Briggs, who took to X to note that it's one of several bad ideas associated with the sequel. "That song was a godawful marketing idea, for an unnecessary Gladiator sequel. Mescal has the charisma of a block of wood. Only Washington looks interesting. I'll see it for Ridley (sigh) and the naval battles."

If you aren't entertained by the trailer or its song, then find out why Nick Cave's "Gladiator 2: Christ Killer" is the sequel we still want to see.