Spartacus: Gods Of The Arena

When the first season of the Starz series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" premiered in January 2010, the series took a no-holds-barred look at the historical figure of Spartacus played by gorgeous, hunky Andy Whitfield. Lots of blood, lots of sex and lots of nudity drew audiences in but the cast led by Whitfield as well as co-stars Lucy Lawless kept them coming back for more.

It was a no-brainer that the series would return for a second season but then Whitfield was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and, with every intention of coming back, the producers had to scramble at how they could keep the popular series going. Then came "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena."

In this series, a prequel to the events in "Blood and Sand," the action focuses on the equally gorgeous and hunky Dustin Clare, who played Gannicus, a gladiator embroiled in the drama including the history of the House of Batiatus and the city of Capua well before Spartacus ever arrived. The strategy worked and "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena" was a huge success and the series is now available on DVD and Blu-ray.

The two disc set contains all six episodes from "Gods of the Arena" but also includes what the press release calls a 'muscular amount of bonus features,' including never-before-seen featurettes, bloopers and behind the scenes footage including a set tour by the fabulous Lucy Lawless (who reprised her role as Lucretia in this series and, while she supposedly died in "Blood and Sand," she will return in the next series). Also, for the Blu-ray release, there is a 3-D battle sequence included that was previewed to excited crowds at this summer's Comic Con in San Diego.

And then there's the eye candy on the show. Besides the hulking body of Dustin Clare, the show also boasts the sexy Manu Bennett as Crixus and Antonio Te Maioha who plays Barca, a character who is revealed to be in a gay relationship with a slave boy.

Unfortunately, once "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena" ended, the plan was for Whitfield to reprise the role of Spartacus but his health did not recover 100% and Whitfield himself gave his approval on recasting the role, which will be played by Liam McIntyre in the upcoming "Spartacus: Vengeance." Sadly, Whitfield finally succumbed to the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and died on September 11th. While the series may be going on, he will definitely be missed.

SPARTACUS: GODS OF THE ARENA
DVD
$24.99
http://www.starz.com/originals/spartacus/shop/pages/shop.aspx