An often-overlooked gladiator epic celebrating its 15th anniversary has the crowds roaring again on Starz. Spartacus
, which was produced by Spider-Man director Sam Raimi and created by Steven S. DeKnight, delivered a blood-soaked, sexed-up historical saga that many acted as a precursor to shows like Game of Thrones. While it never quite reached those heights, especially with critics, the combination of a huge production, gory violence, and more than a little nudity was enough to see the series through four seasons before it ended in 2013.
Having been mostly forgotten for years, there could be a good reason why Spartacus has battled its way to the top of the chart right now. In 2023, it was announced that DeKnight was working on a sequel series, a decade after the fourth season – entitled War of the Damned – made its debut. Under the title of Spartacus: House of Ashur, it was revealed in January 2025 that the new 10-part series will land on Starz this fall. With several months before that release, it seems like many fans have taken the chance to reacquaint themselves with the original series before that happens.
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Produced by Sam Raimi, best-known for his work on Evil Dead and Spider-Man, Spartacus was a wild, pulpy mix of fictionalized historical drama, brutal action set-pieces, and the kind of excessive blood and sex that first attracted audiences to Game of Thrones. The first season centered on the legendary Thracian gladiator Spartacus (originally played by the late Andy Whitfield) who led a slave uprising against the Roman Republic. The series became an audience favorite, but it failed to quite live up to its potential in viewership, especially when Thrones arrived a year later and blew away all competition in the historical epic category.
While appearing as Spartacus’ first season, Whitfield was diagnosed with early-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leading to the second season actually being produced as a prequel. When Whitfield sadly died in 2011, it was decided that next season would go ahead with Liam McIntyre being cast in the role of Spartacus.
‘Spartacus’ Is Well Worth a Watch
Starz
While there have been many versions of Spartacus, and plenty of historical set shows and movies that play around with similar concepts, Spartacus’ was able to play out as something of a Shakespearean drama, but with a grindhouse mentality. It included the usual mix of Roman politics – and all the backstabbing that came with it – as well as steamy romances, and some well-choreographed, blood-soaked fight scenes. However, this study in sex, power, and musclebound force was not well-received by critics, who gifted the first season a divided 52% Tomatometer score – a long wait from the 87% audience score.
The following seasons delivered consistently strong reviews from audiences, with Season 2 – Gods of the Arena – peaking at 93% on the Popcornmeter. Even critics warmed to it, with all three subsequent seasons landing between 63% and 73% scores. Now a new generation are discovering Spartacus before it returns to screens this fall.
The new series, House of Ashur, is described as, “What if Ashur (Nick Tarabay), hadn’t died on Mount Vesuvius at the end of ‘Spartacus: Vengeance?’ And what if he had been gifted the gladiator school once owned by Batiatus in return for aiding the Romans in killing Spartacus and putting an end to the slave rebellion?”
Along with Tarabay, the cast will include Graham McTavish as Korris, Ashur’s Doctore, and Tenika Davis as Achillia, a fierce gladiatrix. Meanwhile, original Spartacus creator, writer and executive producer Steven S. DeKnight is back as showrunner and executive producer. While awaiting this new instalment, it seems there is no better time to tap into the original four seasons on Starz before returning to the arena.
Source: Flixpatrol
Release Date
2010 – 2012
Network
Starz
Directors
Jesse Warn, Rick Jacobson, Michael Hurst, Mark Beesley, T.J. Scott, Brendan Maher, John Fawcett, Chris Martin-Jones, Glenn Standring, Grady Hall
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