A lot of audiences couldn’t recognise Rodrigo Santoro as the Persian god Xerxes in Frank Miller’s comic book epic 300, but the actor has given more details surrounding the film’s follow-up Battle of Artemisia.

The Brazilian actor, who also appeared in the 2003 rom-com Love Actually, clarified some information about Battle’s plot and insisted that the film wouldn’t necessarily be a prequel or a sequel to the original 2007 blockbuster.

“I think they’re calling it a spin-off because it’s not exactly a prequel, it’s not a sequel. It takes place in the same time, you start a little earlier but then you see that it’s like a different point of view, a different camera, a different angle. While that battle was happening, the one that you saw in 300, there was another battle happening next to it and you will have a chance to see all of that happening and how they interact.

I don’t want to ruin it. I think they will try to do a little backstory on Xerxes and they will explain how he became ‘the God King’, which I’m excited about. But I don’t know what it’s going to be. I’ve never played a character twice. It’s interesting. I think the challenging thing for me now will be to try to bring something new for the fans, for the audience and for myself just to make it interesting to play it again.”

Battle of Artemisia will be directed by Noam Murro with Santoro joined in the cast by Eva Green (Casino Royale) and Sullivan Stapleton (Animal Kingdom). However original stars like Gerard Butler and Lena Headey are unlikely to return despite the former’s key involvement in 300’s plot. It is also scheduled for release on 2nd August, 2013.

While it does sound promising to have a film about Xerxes, it may struggle to be a big hit compared to 300 particularly with the lack of original characters returning. Looks like a 50/50 decision for me about whether to watch it or not!