At Ridley Scott historical film “Gladiator II”, the protagonist of Paul Mescal, Lucius Verus Aureliusbecomes a gladiator in Rome after being captured as a prisoner of war in North Africa. He shows his strength and resilience at the Coliseum when he faces various threats, including a powerful rhino and a group of terrifying monkey-like animals. These creatures infuriate Lucius not only with their strength but also with their ruthless aggression. One of the animals even kills his mentor, Jugurtha, allowing him to take revenge on the creatures and show his power before the emperors and high officials of the Roman Empire!

The creatures that fight Lucius Verus Aurelius are baboons

Although the creatures that terrorize Lucius Verus Aurelius and his compatriots may seem exaggerated or downright fictional, they are vicious baboons. Primates are Old World monkeys belonging to the family Cercopithecidae. The strength they demonstrate in “Gladiator II” is not completely exaggerated since they are one of the largest non-hominoid primates. Baboons became a highlight of the period drama film after Ridley Scott encountered one while filming Max’s. Science fiction series ‘Raised by wolves‘ In South Africa. While filming the show at a safari park, he saw a tourist try to pet a baboon, but the animal attacked the man.

This unfortunate baboon attack left an impression on Scott, who found the incident funny. Beyond the fun, he realized that baboons have incredible physiques and the instinct to “defend, kill and attack.” “Baboons are carnivorous animals, and a large baboon can weigh 40 or 50 pounds. Try wrestling a 20-pound Jack Russell and you will lose. A 50 pound baboon? You will lose your arm and your head. Can you hang from a beam by one arm for two hours? No, but they can,” said the filmmaker. Deadline. The impression the creature left on Scott gave rise to the film’s remarkable fight scene.

Scott relied on vicious baboons to bring out the strength of his protagonist, Lucius Verus Aurelius. The idea of ​​the gladiator dominating not one but several of these powerful creatures at once captivated the filmmaker, who used it to show the power of Paul Mescal’s character. The fight sequences were filmed with twelve stuntmen, who wore black tights and participated in a “savage brawl”. Once their physicality and movements were recorded, Mark Bakowski, the film’s VFX supervisor, relied on keyframe animation to design the baboons.

Baboons with alopecia still exist today

What makes the baboons in “Gladiator II” strange is their hairless appearance. They even appear as a cross between a monkey and a black panther. However, the truth is that such baboons exist even among us. The real-life animals may not be as vicious and muscular as the ones we see in the period drama, but the creature isn’t extinct. In fact, baboons appear strange because of a condition called alopeciathat is, in other words, hair loss. Even Ridley Scott faced questions regarding the credibility of the baboons in the film.

“One guy said to me, ‘I’ve never seen a baboon like that before.’ I said, ‘Well, he has alopecia, do you know what that is? That’s when you lose all your fucking hair,'” Scott said in the same Deadline interview. “I copied this baboon from this park. He had alopecia, so it was all tendons and tendons , without fat, like muscular steel I said: ‘This is my monster'”, added the filmmaker. Mark Bakowski, the VFX supervisor, designed the creatures based on a documentary images Scott watched that showcased the muscle tone of a hairless baboon. “Most people have never seen a hairless baboon, so it’s a hot sell on this ground,” Bakowski said. IndieWire.

Learn more: Was Macrinus black in real life? Were there dark lords in the Roman Empire?