Pedro Pascal, who played Joel in The Last of Us, has joined the cast of Paramount’s upcoming Gladiator movie.

Pascal’s role in the film has not been disclosed as of yet. Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2 will follow the original blockbuster, which was an enormous box-office success. Five Academy Awards were given to Gladiator, including one for Best Picture.

In the 2000 movie Gladiator, a Roman general named Maximus Decimus Meridius is deceived by Commodus, the ambitious son of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, after Commodus kills his father and takes over the throne. Maximus becomes a gladiator after being taken as a slave. He moves up in the ranks of the arena to get payback for the deaths of his family and the emperor.

Alongside Barry Keoghan, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, and Denzel Washington, Gladiator 2 is set for release on November 22, 2024, with Paul Mescal due to portray Lucius.

Recent triumph in The Last of Us has made Pascal a highly sought-after actor in the industry. Before going back to HBO’s show, Pascal joined the project to make a sequel to Gladiator. He also joined Ethan Hawke in Pedro Almodovar’s short film Strange Way of Life. The independent feature film will have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. In the fall, Sony Pictures Classics will be in charge of distributing it.

Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Ralf Moller, Oliver Reed, Djimon Hounsou, Richard Harris, Derek Jacobi, John Shrapnel, and Tommy Flanagan were all in the cast of the first Gladiator movie.