Throughout Gladiator II, the reluctant hero encounters a number of other colorful and dubious characters. Denzel Washington plays a dashing powerbroker named Macrinus. "Denzel is an arms dealer who supplies food for the armies in Europe, supplies wine and oil, makes steel, makes spears, weapons, cannons, and catapults. So he is a very wealthy man. Instead of having a stable of racehorses, he has a stable of gladiators," [director Ridley] Scott says. "He's beautiful. He drives a golden Ferrari. I got him a gold-plated chariot."
The rumor about Washington playing a Roman emperor may have arisen because there was, in fact, a Roman emperor named Macrinus in 217 and 218. However, he does not appear in the movie "Gladiator II." The Vanity Fair article noted that Fred Hechinger plays Emperor Caracalla and Joseph Quinn portrays Emperor Geta in "Gladiator II."