'SNL' Turns 'Gladiator II' Into a Musical and It's Shockingly Impressive

Saturday Night Live is known for its comedic reimaginings of the day's biggest pop culture hits, like when it asked "What if Mario Kart got the same gritty HBO treatment as The Last of Us?" or "What if Bambi was retold as a John Wick-style revenge movie?" Continuing in that tradition, this week's episode looked at today's top three box office leaders and noticed there's an odd man out. Wicked and Moana 2 are both mega-successful musicals, which leaves Gladiator II as the songless outlier. But, what if...?

With "an extra 50 minutes of songs," the pre-taped sketch features original ditties courtesy of the SNL writer's room and features Kenan Thompson, Bowen Yang, Devon Walker, Jane Wickline, and Mikey Day. The audience was left howling as the gladiators gave it their all on the battlefield, being decimated while still hitting their choreo marks. The music and movement is surprisingly well fleshed out, and the quality of the cinematography and CGI is noteworthy for a sketch that was filmed in a matter of days.

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Paul Mescal suits up as his character from the film, Lucius, and laments that all anyone sees in him is a killer — no one sees the "real him" inside. Hitting the violent arena he sings out, "Stab my way to freedom! Cut my way to the next act!" as he prances and flourishes his way through his competitors. The audience got a kick out of the ridiculousness of it all, and Mescal got more than a few loud reactions for his revealing gladiator armor.

Jane Wickline stars as "beautiful wife" who does nothing but pine for her husband and hope for his return. Calling out the way women are often treated in films geared towards men, she sings, "Every day I stand on the edge of my farm with my tiny son and wait for my husband to come home, like this," as she demonstrates an overly cinematic "brave" stare into the distance.

After a Hamilton-inspired rap perfectly and cringingly delivered by Mikey Day, the parody wraps up in a way that really speaks to our current cultural moment: armor-clad Paul Mescal riding off on a broom while singing Elphaba's iconic "Defying Gravity" riff. Some things just make sense.

Related: Meet the Cast of 'SNL' Season 50

You can watch the entire sketch here:

Related: 'SNL' Reveals Next Three Hosts and Musical Guests for Season 50