Russell Crowe really wanted to be in Gladiator II, despite the obvious problem that his characters dies in the first movie.

Russell Crowe's Maximus died at the end of Gladiator and his presence keeps haunting Gladiator II in ways that ultimately hurt the film.

Crowe won a Best Actor Oscar for playing the character of Maximus, who dies at the end of the 2000 original Russell Crowe doesn't return to the Colosseum in the long anticipated sequel to Gladiator — but it wasn't for a lack of trying.