Christopher Nolan and Universal Pictures shared the first trailer for Nolan’s next epic, an adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey.
The trailer showcases a few of Odysseus feats that he recalls to the Phaecians at the court of King Alcinous and Queen Arete including the blinding of the Cyclops Polyphemus and his visit to the Underworld.
It also shows the stress and trials on his wife Penelope and their son Telemachus.
Matt Damon, who plays Odysseus in the film, previously teased the film plans to capture most if not all of Odysseus trials and feats. He told Empire, “If you’re going to have an existential crisis as you pass the Sirens and you’re lashed to a mast, it’s there. If it says you’re running for your life from a Cyclops, you’re going to run for your life. Chris doesn’t hide the ball.”
Nolan also informed the outlet how he cracked the mythological elements of the story, “One of the things I needed to crack was how to approach mythological elements in a sort of real-world way. The big breakthrough creatively in thinking about the gods was that everything that is now explained by science was once supernatural. Lightning, thunder, earthquakes, volcanoes... people are literally seeing gods everywhere; not even the evidence of gods, they’re seeing the actions of gods.”
“I don’t want to say too much about it beyond indicating that yes, the evidence of the supernatural is all around these people. It’s very much part of their lives,” he continued. “And I think it’s quite a lot of fun to tap into that.”
The film stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, Tom Holland as Telemachus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Robert Pattinson as Antinous, and Lupita Nyong’o as Clytemnestra, with Zendaya as Athena and Charlize Theron as Circe.
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As a mythology nerd, I love stories like Oedipus, The Iliad, and The Odyssey, with the Odyssey probably being my favorite. So I was very excited for this. Then I saw garbage Zendaya playing a race swapped Athena, who is supposed to be beautiful, and not look like a pug. Lupita Notgonnago as race swapped Clytemnestra (sorry, Greeks weren't reggins), and the most offensive of all, literal Frankenstein's monster Ellen Page playing god knows what disaster in this. Total pass for me.
With that cast I shall be avoiding this movie.