Gladiator Star Spencer Treat Clark ‘Excited’ to See Paul Mescal as His Character’s Adult Version in the Sequel (Exclusive).Linh

Spencer Treat Clark is happy to pass the sword to Paul Mescal in Gladiator II.

The 37-year-old actor, who played Mescal’s character Lucius Verus as a child in the original 2000 Gladiator film, tells PEOPLE that he recently watched the trailer for Ridley Scott‘s highly anticipated sequel.

“The movie looks so good, and Paul’s going to do such a great job,” Clark says of Mescal, 28, in a chat surrounding his own newly released film Salem’s Lot, which is now streaming on Max. “I’ve actually heard great things about the movie.”

He also notes that he made the first Gladiator “25 years ago,” which is something he feels like “people forget.” For Clark, though, “I feel like it was 25 years ago, but for some people, seeing me as an adult and being like, ‘Oh my God, you’re right. You were Lucius in Gladiator,’ is so wild.”

“But I’m really excited to see the movie and to see what Paul brings to it,” he adds of the sequel. “And yeah, it comes out soon. So I’m excited for it.”

Gladiator II picks up where Gladiator left off, with a new fighter: Lucius, who is the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and nephew of her brother Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), ready to enter the arena.

Scott, 86, made the decision for Mescal to lead the new movie after watching him in 2020’s Normal People. The cast also includes Nielsen, 59, and Derek Jacobi, reprising their roles, plus Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger.

Speaking exclusively to PEOPLE at the Alien: Romulus premiere on Aug. 12, Scott gave some insight into what fans can expect from the sequel to the May 2000 original.

“It’s as good as the first one,” the filmmaker said at the time. “I didn’t say better. It’s as good.”

Scott also recently told The Hollywood Reporter that he already has his sights set on a third film, despite the sequel still being nearly two months away from its premiere.

“There’s already an idea,” he said, noting that his concept for a third Gladiator movie takes inspiration from Francis Ford Coppola‘s 1974 epic The Godfather Part II.

Scott, whose second Gladiator film comes 24 years after Russell Crowe led the franchise’s initial entry, similarly invoked The Godfather Part II while teasing a third film to French outlet Premiere.

“I’m already toying with the idea of ​​Gladiator III,” he told that outlet, hinting that Gladiator II’s ending “is reminiscent of” the end of Coppola’s 1972 original Godfather film, with Al Pacino‘s Michael Corleone unhappily leading his family’s criminal empire into the future.

“So the next [film] will be about a man who doesn’t want to be where he is,” Scott told Premiere of the concept.