Cinema News: The bloody alt history of ‘Spartacus’

December 5, 2025 | View in browser

A man in gladiator gear stares straight ahead as two women behind him look on

By Yvonne Villarreal and Robert Lloyd

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who, on occasion, wonders if they're in an alternate dimension of their life.

The struggle of easing back to reality after the Thanksgiving break can be a mind trip. But at least "Stranger Things," one of TV's biggest phenomena, has kicked off its farewell tour to distract us? The relentless publicity blitz and social buzz is in full effect. Vol. 1 of the final season was released Nov. 26 and was so popular that Netflix crashed for a few minutes after the first four episodes dropped. And the sci-fi series is already breaking viewing records. A lot of the narrative arc has to do with that ol' Vecna guy wreaking havoc — so, our Hawkins expert Kaitlyn Huamani spoke with Jamie Campbell Bower, the actor who plays him, to break down the process of becoming the series' terrifying villain. And our industry reporter Wendy Lee did a dive into how the show became "Star Wars" for Netflix, spawning a Broadway production, merchandise deals and live events nationwide. We'll have more coverage as the series reaches its conclusion.

But there's another TV franchise that's dabbling with its own alternate dimension. "Spartacus: House of Ashur" premieres Friday on Starz and extends the network's "Spartacus" universe with its alternate-history version of events that sees Ashur (Nick E. Tarabay), a cunning and treacherous former gladiator, surviving his death and rising to power in Rome. We spoke with showrunner Steven S. DeKnight, who also helmed the original series, about the exploring the road not taken.

Also in this week's Screen Gab, our viewing recommendations are a stand-up special with a bourbon twist and a royal period drama making the rounds again — it's not "The Crown," but it's just as sweeping and grand.

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Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times

"Jim Gaffigan: Live from Old Forester — The Bourbon Set" (YouTube) / "The Jim Gaffigan Show" (Paramount Plus)

"I'm going to be talking about bourbon for 30 minutes straight, which is essentially what bourbon drinkers do a couple times a day," says comedian Jim Gaffigan at the top of this 45-minute stand-up set, dropped without fanfare (or fee) onto his YouTube Channel. (Headed "Live from Old Forrester" — the Louisville, Ky., distillery is a sponsor — it's had 3.5 million views in the first 11 days.) Not every comic would devote an entire show to drinking (the remaining 15 minutes shift to other alcoholic themes), let alone one most often described as "clean," but he turns a lately acquired passion ("Now, I'm not a bourbon expert, but I'm annoying in other ways") into killer comedy. "The Bourbon Set" led me to investigate whether Gaffigan's excellent undersung self-titled 2015 sitcom, originally broadcast on TV Land, was available to see, and indeed it is, on Paramount+ . Created by the comic and Peter Tolan ("The Larry Sanders Show") and developed with spouse Jeannie Noth Gaffigan, it features Gaffigan as a version of himself — a pasty, middle-aged comic with a wife (Ashley Williams) and five kids, living in a two-bedroom Lower Manhattan walk-up. "If you're wondering what it's like being the father of five young children," the star says, "just imagine you're drowning. And someone hands you a baby." — Robert Lloyd

"Victoria" (Netflix)

If you ever wondered about the person for whom the Victorian Era was named, settle in for a lavish history lesson. The series originally premiered on PBS in 2017 and never quite emerged from the shadow already cast by Netflix's "The Crown." But now all three seasons of the historical drama, created and mostly written by Daisy Goodwin, have the same streaming home. Led by Jenna Coleman, the series follows the early chapters of of Queen Victoria's rule while highlighting the push and pull of her private and public roles, taking us on the ride through her unexpected ascension to the British throne at age 18 in 1837, following the death of her uncle, King William IV, her infatuation with mentor/prime minster Lord Melbourne (played by Rufus Sewell, currently starring in another Netflix series that explores power and marriage, "The Diplomat") and her eventual passionate romance and early marriage to Germany's Prince Albert (Tom Hughes), as well as her growing confidence as a queen. While its debatable whether "Victoria" is more dramatically compelling than "The Crown," you'll still wish there was more than three seasons of the royal melodrama to get lost in. — Yvonne Villarreal

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More than a decade after the conclusion of "Spartacus," the Starz historical drama that chronicled the life of the titular Thracian gladiator who led a slave uprising against the Roman Republic, a new series sets out to imagine another course of events for one of its central villains. "Spartacus: House of Ashur" is an alternate history sequel series that imagines what would have happened if defeated gladiator Ashur (Tarabay) survives the battle of Mt. Vesuvius — instead of meeting his death via decapitation — and is rewarded by the Romans for his treachery, inheriting the gladiator school that once enslaved him. The series premieres with two episodes Friday on Starz, which will be available to stream the next day on the network's app; subsequent new episodes will be released weekly. Over email, DeKnight, who created the original series and returns to helm the sequel, shared what made Ashur an appealing character to revisit through this lens, the backup plan(s) he considered if one actor wasn't available to reprise their role and the other TV shows that have his attention. — Yvonne Villarreal

Any character from the franchise could have been revisited through this premise. Why was Ashur the one you felt compelled to revisit? And what was the biggest challenge?

Two reasons. First, I've always loved working with Nick Tarabay. He's so incredibly talented and loves the craft of acting as much as I love the craft of writing. We have a wonderful creative partnership that I was keen to see continue. Second, I thought a more in-depth exploration of the character of Ashur was fertile creative ground. When Ashur initially found himself as a slave recruit at Batiatus' gladiator school in Gods of the Arena, he was eager and enthusiastic to not only prove himself but also to find an ersatz family among the Brotherhood. But instead of being embraced, he was mocked and humiliated. It turned him bitter, and from that point on, he lashed out and become one of the main villains of the original series. But what if he was given a second chance? Could he rediscover his humanity? Could he become a better person? Or would he succumb once again to his inner demons?

The biggest challenge, of course, was how to get the audience to root for someone who had committed such atrocious acts in the original series. The solution was ultimately a rather simple one: Pit him against people who are even worse. And they presented themselves in the form of the Roman elites, who believe that Ashur is attempting to rise above his station and will do anything to keep him in his place.

Since the series lives in the "what if ..." framework, what's a narrative choice from the "Spartacus" universe you wish you could revisit and approach differently?

I always wanted another crack at the pilot for the original series. It was one big experiment at the time, in both the writing and the production. We were basically learning what worked and what didn't as we went along. Our budget for the pilot was also tight, to say the least. Ultimately, we were overly ambitious and in retrospect needed to tighten up the story and focus more on character rather than out-of-reach spectacle, but thankfully we dialed in the style, story and dialogue in the ensuing episodes.

Lucy Lawless returns briefly as Lucretia. Why was it important to bring a legacy character back to introduce this alternate world and was there a Plan B if Lucy wasn't available?

Lucy and her character Lucretia were absolutely vital to launching the "what if" premise of House of Ashur. Lucretia was intimately tied to Ashur in "Spartacus: Vengeance" to the point that in the finale of that season, he actually tells her that the world will soon see the rise of the House of Ashur. She was also the one directly responsible for Ashur being sent up Vesuvius to face Spartacus and his rebels, where he ultimately met his demise. It just felt organic for Lucretia to be the one waiting for Ashur in the Underworld. Not to mention Lucy is just a joy to work with and a fan favorite!

However, Lucy is also incredibly busy, and we weren't sure our schedules would line up. Our Plan B was to bring back John Hannah as Batiatus. Creatively it was a wee bit of a stretch since his character died the season before Ashur met his doom, but John is fantastic and much like Lucy and Nick, we loved working with him. Unfortunately, he was doing a movie in Spain, I believe, and wasn't available. So, we started discussing bringing back Peter Mensah as Oenomaus or possibly even Liam J. McIntyre as Spartacus. But then Lucy's schedule aligned with ours, and the rest is (alternative) history.

A big addition to the new series is Tenika Davis as Achillia, a gladiatrix, the first female gladiator of the "Spartacus" universe. What intrigued you about introducing a female gladiator in this alt timeline/history backdrop?

Tenika really kills it in this role, both figuratively and literally. Rob Tapert and I always wanted to introduce the gladiatrix back in the original series, but historically they didn't appear on the scene until 80 or so years after the events we were dramatizing. Which is another reason the whole "what if" scenario of "House of Ashur" appealed to me. Uncoupled from history, I had the freedom to have Ashur disrupt the timeline and introduce the first female gladiator way ahead of schedule because he needed a gimmick to gain attention.

What I love about Achillia is that she's the classic underdog, in many ways reflecting Ashur's journey, but through a different lens. The Brotherhood of gladiators — all men up to this point — not only don't want her there but don't believe she even deserves the chance to prove herself. Much like the Roman elites view Ashur attempting to maneuver within their social strata. That really leads to what I'm interested in exploring in this new series: class warfare at its most nefarious and bloody. How far will those in power go to keep down those seeking to better their position? And to what extremes will characters like Ashur and Achillia go to climb that ladder?

What have you watched recently that you are recommending to everyone you know?

Currently, I'm marveling at what Vince Gilligan and his team are pulling off on "Pluribus" for Apple [TV]. A delightful high-wire act of taking a sort of "Rick & Morty," "Unity" sci-fi premise and making it incredibly grounded and captivating. A true masterclass in the genre. I'm also loving the gorgeous execution of "Last Samurai Standing" on Netflix. Just jaw-droppingly sumptuous. And finally, "New Girl," a show I missed when it originally aired on Fox. Creator/showrunner Elizabeth Meriwether and her team wrote some of the sharpest comedy dialogue of the decade and it never fails to crack me up. An unforgivable sin that I missed it the first time around!

What's your go-to "comfort watch," the movie or TV show you go back to again and again?

There will always be one clear winner in this category: "Seinfeld" [Netflix]. Barely an evening goes by that I don't watch at least one episode with my wife, who can quote entire scenes off the top of her head. It's a show that holds up as well today as when it first aired, which actually predates my career as a writer by a good seven years. The later seasons particularly are just so masterfully constructed and insanely inventive. Plus, the show in retrospect was wildly risqué for the time. Sitting down to catch an episode is like visiting an old friend — who just happens to be hysterical and slightly off their rocker. Who could ask for anything better?!