Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Europe, North America, and Asia

Gladiator II and Wicked both hit theaters, which some are already claiming will be the second coming of Barbenheimer.(For the record, we’re still waiting on a better name, because neither “Wickediator” or “Gladicked” have the same ring to it.)And though traditional logic would tell us that Wicked fills the Barbie slot by appealing to the girls, gays, and theys, while the Gladiator sequel, like Oppenheimer, is for the straights, we’re here to say: Not so fast! We have reason to believe the swords-and-sandals epic will have some major queer appeal, too.Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.For one, a new trailer for the film dropped this morning—on Bisexual Visibility Day of all days! Clearly that was intentional, right???they dropped the gladiator 2 trailer on national bi sexual day they know their audienceReturning to the story he started 24 years ago in the Best Picture-winning Gladiator, director Ridley Scott has assembled quite the cast, seemingly hand-picked to quench the internet’s collective thirst.Preeminent babygirl and short-shorts king Paul Mescal takes the lead here playing Lucius, the grown son of slain hero Maximus (the original’s star, Russell Crowe). Now a prisoner, he finds himself under the tutelage of Marcinus (Denzel Washington, sporting a c*nty hoop earring), who has his own designs for taking over the Roman Empire.Meanwhile, Lucius is hellbent on revenge, eager to have a Colosseum face-off with the Roman general who took everything he loves.