'SNL' Taps Paul Mescal For a Reimagined 'Gladiator II' Musical Spoof

“Saturday Night Live” reimagined one of this season’s blockbusters a musical.

Paul Mescal hosted the late-night sketch comedy for for the first time on Dec. 7, alongside musical guest Shaboozey.

On the heels of the box office success for “Gladiator II,” Mescal starred in the 'SNL' spoof trailer for the historical action film, which offered a musical twist to the gory tale.

“‘Gladiator II’ was a hit, earning over $300 million worldwide,” a voiceover during the trailer explained. “But then we saw the massive success of ‘Moana 2’ and ‘Wicked.’ So after some rushed reshoots, ‘Gladiator II’ is now…a musical.”

Mescal appeared to reprise his character Lucius in the sketch, starring alongside 'SNL' cast member Devon Walker as another gladiator, with Kenan Thompson and Bowen Yang by their sides.

After Walker marveled over the sight of Rome, Thompson offered his wisdom, before breaking into song, singing, “There’s no place, no place like Rome.” 

After Thompson and Yang explained the delights of ancient Rome through song, Mescal offered an optimistic take, adding, “Yeah, I think I’m going to like it here.”

Another voiceover boasted that the movie would include “the same violent historical epic audiences have been raving about, but with an extra 50 minutes of songs.”

One scene captured Mescal in a solitary moment before entering the Colosseum, reflecting on his public perception as a fighter.

“They look at me, and all they see is a killing machine,” he sang. “But they don’t know that far below I’m so much more than I seem.”

Mescal took to the battlefield, gesticulating through the ballad with a sword in his hand as he sang, “They call me Gladiator, they call me a slave.”

The song took an upbeat turn as he began to shimmy to the beat, adding, “They call me a killer, but someday they’ll know my name.”

The trailer included a candid quote from the film’s director Ridley Scott about the pivot in the movie’s direction, which read, “I was not told about this.”

As the sketch continued, it included a note that Lin-Manuel Miranda was hired in order to “compose one of his classic Broadway raps” for the project, which led to the dueling tune between Mikey Day as the emperor and Mescal.

“Everybody in the Colosseum, put your hands in the air and let me see them. I’m the mad emperor with the bad temper-er,” Day rapped. “And I don’t mean to be a hater, but I ain’t like this gladiator. So say goodbye to this clown, ‘cause my thumb is going down.”

Mescal spat back with lines of his own, adding, “Look at little b---- with his wine in his cup. Sit your a-- down, put the f------ thumb up.”

“This slave think he a boss like me? Let’s see if he can floss like me,” Day continued, before a dance battle broke out between his character and Mescal’s.

To conclude the trailer, Mescal was joined again by Yang, Walker, Thompson, and Day alongside cast members Jane Wickline and Michael Longfellow for one final rendition of “No Place Like Rome.”

“There’s no place, no place like…” they all sang in unison, before the screen cut from the group in the Colosseum to Mescal solo as he rode away from the scene on a broom donning a witch hat, à la Elphaba in “Wicked.”

To end the song and the sketch, Mescal sang the word “Rome” to the tune of “Defying Gravity,” creating his own melodic riff.

Francesca Gariano

Francesca Gariano is a New York City-based freelance journalist reporting on culture, entertainment, beauty, lifestyle and wellness. She is a freelance contributor to TODAY.com, where she covers pop culture and breaking news.