Queer villains are a cliche we should have moved past

Denzel Washington’s sly bisexual villain is a delight to behold in Gladiator II’, writes Louis Chilton. But when combined with two androgynous tyrants, a troubling trope emerges

- Louis Chilton

It may have conquered (the box office), but Gladiator II has certainly divided. Ridley Scott's long-gestating sequel to his 2000 Roman epic has prompted everything from feverish praise to bitter scorn. Even within the pages of The Independent's culture section, there is discord: critic Clarisse Loughrey gave it four stars, branding it “equal [to the original] in scale and spectacle”, while Patrick Smith threw it to the lions, rhetorically speaking. On one matter, however, pretty much everyone is united: the ineffable charisma of Denzel Washington.

The 69-year-old actor’s performance in the film, as the preening, scheming slave owner Macrinus, has won over even the most jaded doubters. It’s also a milestone for Washington: Macrinus, written to be bisexual, is the first queer character he has played on screen. Gladiator II’s other two major villains – effete, bickering emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) – are also bisexual, and androgynous in appearance. Together, they’re surely some of the most prominent bisexual male characters to ever grace a blockbuster of this scale. Why, then, does it feel so disappointing?