Denzel Washington is expected to be a major factor in other awards season with Gladiator II, and the movie could give him a rare Oscars milestone if he gets a nomination. Considering the Oscar wins and nominations that the original Gladiator got, there was always some pressure and expectation that Ridley Scott’s sequel could be another film that the Academy Awards recognizes. The involvement of Denzel Washington in Gladiator 2‘s cast significantly increased the odds that the movie could gain some recognition, as the actor has an incredible track record for getting Oscar nominations.

Whether it was his first nomination in 1988 or his most recent one in 2022, Denzel can turn an Oscar-worthy performance in any film. His role as Macrinus in Gladiator 2 provides him with plenty of opportunities to leave an impression on audiences, so much so that he was one of the standouts from the trailers alone. Unsurprisingly, he’s already gained some steam when it comes to getting one of the 2025 Oscars nominations for Best Supporting Actor. An official nomination is still far off, but Denzel could achieve an Oscar milestone that hasn’t been done in 31 years.

Denzel Washington Could Get His 10th Oscar Nomination For Gladiator 2

He’s Received Nine Nominations In The Last 36 Years

Often considered one of the greatest actors of his generation, Denzel Washington’s Oscar nominations back up that belief. He currently has nine nominations overall across Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, and he’s won in each category once before. Denzel’s first two Oscar nominations came in Best Supporting Actor for Cry Freedom in 1988 and Glory in 1990, which he won for. Since then, he’s always contended in the Best Actor category, racking up seven more nominations. This puts Gladiator 2 in a spot to become Denzel Washington’s tenth Oscar nomination as an actor.

Denzel Washington also received an Oscar nomination as a producer for Fences after its Best Picture nomination

It would be no small accomplishment for Denzel to achieve this milestone with Gladiator 2. There was a stretch of time where it seemed like the actor fell out of favor with the Academy, ironically after winning his first Best Actor Oscar for Training Day. He proceeded to get no nominations for 13 years, which is the longest such stretch of his career. That changed with Flight in 2013, which brought him back to the Best Actor race and ignited a run of four nominations in nine years. Gladiator 2 would extend this successful stretch to five nominations in 12 years.

Meryl Streep Was The Last Person To Hit The 10 Oscar Nomination Milestone 28 Years Ago

Jack Nicholson Was The Last Male To Do It

Denzel Washington getting an Oscar nomination for Gladiator 2 would make him the first male actor to break the ten acting nomination milestone since Jack Nicholson. Nicholson achieved the mark in 1993 after he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in A Few Good Men. He was recognized twice after for As Good as It Gets and About Schmidt, winning for the former, which gives him the record for most acting Oscar nominations for a man at 12 nominations. Denzel would become only the third man to hit the ten nomination milestone as he’d tie Laurence Olivier.

Overall, five performers have received ten or more acting Oscar nominations in their career. Denzel Washington would join Jack Nicholson and Laurence Olivier as the only men to do so, but three women have also surpassed the milestone: Meryl Streep, Katharine Hepburn, and Bette Davis. Streep is the most recent ten-time acting nominee at the Oscars regardless of gender, as her tenth nomination came in 1996 for The Bridges of Madison County, three years after Nicholson became the last man to hit the mark. That helped propel Meryl Streep towards her record amount of Oscar nominations for an actor.

Denzel Washington Winning An Oscar For Gladiator 2 Will Give Him A Rare Milestone Too

Another Oscar Win Will Put Denzel In Elite Company

Custom image by Brennan Klein

Achieving his tenth Oscar nomination and being put in a group with Jack Nicholson, Laurence Olivier, Meryl Streep, Katharine Hepburn, and Bette Davis is impressive enough for Denzel Washington, but that’s not where his accomplishments could end with Gladiator 2. If he were to win Best Supporting Actor, he would have his third Oscar win across all acting categories. Denzel Washington’s third Oscars win will put him on a list with seven others – Ingrid Bergman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Francis McDormand, and Walter Brennan, as well as Nicholson, Streep, and Hepburn – as the only people with that many acting wins.

Denzel Washington’s Oscar Nominations & Wins

Movie
Nomination Category
Win or Lose

Cry Freedom (1988)
Best Supporting Actor
Lose

Glory (1990)
Best Supporting Actor
Win

Malcolm X (1993)
Best Actor
Lose

The Hurricane (2000)
Best Actor
Lose

Training Day (2002)
Best Actor
Win

Flight (2013)
Best Actor
Lose

Fences (2017)
Best Actor
Lose

Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2018)
Best Actor
Lose

The Tragedy of Macbeth (2022)
Best Actor
Lose

However, this group is cut in half when the volume of nominations is factored in. Denzel Washington would be the fourth actor with ten or more Oscar nominations and three or more wins. The others are Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, and Katharine Hepburn. There would be one surprising but notable difference between Denzel’s placement in the group and the others. He’d be the only one to have the majority of his wins come in a supporting category, as Streep and Nicholson only won in supporting once, and all of Hepburn’s victories came in Best Actress.

How Likely Is Denzel Washington’s Oscar Nomination & Win For Gladiator 2?

Oscars Predictions Point Towards This Outcome

Image via Paramount Pictures

Denzel Washington hasn’t officially joined these groups or crossed these milestones yet, but Gladiator 2 appears to be well-positioned to help him do just that. Practically all award pundits are predicting that Denzel will get nominated for Gladiator 2. He’s about as close to a lock for this recognition as one can be weeks before the movie releases and months before nominations are announced. So unless there’s a major misstep or controversy during the campaigning process, there seems to be little chance he misses out on a nomination entirely.

Whether Denzel Washington ultimately wins the Oscar for Gladiator 2 is a bit more uncertain. There are definitely other strong contenders in the race, but no one has emerged yet with enough support to comfortably say that Denzel should not still be considered the frontrunner to win. He’s got the career legacy angle to play with and is one of the standout performances in what is expected to be one of 2024’s biggest movies. That should give him plenty of momentum as Oscars voting heats up, which makes a Denzel Washington nomination and win seem quite likely at this stage.

This points to Denzel accomplishing these two major milestones come the 2025 Oscars ceremony in March 2025. There’s still time for it to change and another performance to overtake him if the right film picks up enough momentum. But given the love that Denzel Washington has managed to keep getting from Academy voters over the years, the Oscars recognizing him in this fashion with Gladiator 2 makes sense and is more than deserved.