Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ (2026)

I've been deliberately trying to avoid any of the buzz surrounding this, but inevitably some noise entered into my "reception" for want of a better word. And while I would consider myself relatively enthusiastic about a new Nolan movie I can't help but feel a bit dodgy about 'The Odyssey' even if I'm well disposed to the majority of his work in part or in whole. This is obviously stemming from the recent internet murmurings with regards to, frankly, bizarre casting choices and certain unease with dialogue from the trailer.

The "daddy" line in the trailer that has some people exercised also kind of hit me too. Largely because I'm am used to seeing/hearing this kind of material delivered in a stilted RADA tone, with the applicable use of wording. And while all TV and movie depictions of antiquity are presented in a "modern" - and therefore completely ashistorical - submission, the use of certain words and phrases still have the power to bring one out of the piece that they are watching even if the viewer tries to give it their all. It'll, therefore, be interesting to see how much of an impact that this will have on the final film. But, personally, I do think that the staid delivery of lines adds to a certain "authenticity", regardless of the fact that it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever because characters within the Greek or Roman world wouldn't be speaking in such a stagey (and particularly British) fashion anyway. However, I simply cannot imagine something like 'I Claudius' where the characters speak in a mid 70's vernacular. It would end up being laughable, akin to Lorenzo St. DuBois in 'The Producers' doing Hitler…baby.

Onto the casting choices, I have to admit that going with Matt Damon as Odysseus/Ulysses struck me initially. I have difficulty with Mr. Damon in any role, even though I generally like him in a lot of things that I've seen him in! So hopefully he'll prove me wrong again. But it is peculiar that there are absolutely no Greek (or even Greek looking) actors in this? Like…at all? Also, and I recognise the bone of contention here, but casting Lupita Nyong'o as Helen (cousin of Penelope played by Anne Hathaway by the way) just strikes me as being childishly provocative. I've nothing against Miss Nyong'o and she has pleased me in anything that I've seen her in. But as Helen of Troy? That's just odd, to say the very least. In addition Homer described Helen as "white armed" and "fair haired", ad nauseam. Traits that Lupita just does not possess.

More odd is the (solid enough) rumor that Elliot Page has been cast as Achilles, the Greek epitome of warrior manhood. The "greatest of all the Greek warriors". I don't know what angle Nolan is going for here, or whether he was overruled by someone else, but putting a five foot nothing slip of a person into the role of an ancient Greek warrior (whether he actually existed or not) just sounds absolutely ridiculous. I know next to nothing about the, now, Mr. Page as the last thing that I saw them in was 'Hard Candy'. But Achilles? Or even the ghost of? I'm genuinely having a very difficult time seeing that.

In any case, regardless of all the above guff, I'm still fascinated at how all of this will turn out. Nolan is an excellent film maker, even if I have my issues with some of his work. So I can put aside some initial trepidation.

I will say this though. The bigger budget he has to work with, the lesser that work ends up being for me personally. I'd take a 'Memento' or 'Insomnia' over 'Interstellar' or 'Oppenheimer' any day, even if I like all of those films.

Was Achilles not also described as a bit of a twink?

Not in general, no.

Homer describes Achilles as a towering strength. A swift footed, yellow haired, demigod of unmatched physical prowess that could wield a spear so heavy that no other Greek warrior could even lift it. Achilles was supposed to represent the epitome of Greek male "beauty" in that he was a warrior so fearsome that entire armies quaked in their boots at his mere presence on the battlefield and yet he was mild mannered and considerate off of it.

There are later tracts about him being hidden as a youth on Skyros where Thetis (who was sometimes depicted as a Goddess) disguised him as a girl in the king's court to keep him out of war. While there he was getting it on with the daughter of the king and had a couple of kids. Odysseus goes to Skyros to seek out Achilles because he's needed for the war against Troy.

But Homer never mentioned this in the Iliad. This idea came about in Roman times by the poet Statius during the 1st Century A.D. Exactly how this "disguise" went down is anybody's guess though. But I would suggest that it's merely some Roman mythmaking as they were always Greek wannabes anyway. Especially amongst the upper classes.

In saying that, Homer (who according to Stephen Fry may or may not have been more than one person) more than likely made up Achilles (and many other characters in his works) completely out of whole cloth 400 years after the events he wrote about.

But there's an awful lot of unlikely disguises going on in Greek myth, whether told by the Greeks themselves or much, much, later by the Romans. Deidamia, the daughter of the King of Skyros with whom Achilles had children, was even supposed to have disguised herself as a man and headed off to Troy with him!

Lupita as Helen of Troy will visually stand completely apart from every
other woman in the film, which I think captures the spirit of how that
character is meant to be seen.

Perhaps.

But I'd love a time machine sometimes even if it's just to be able to go back and show the writers of work that Hollywood adapts just who it is they are casting for various roles.

Me - "Hey Homer they're making a movie about the Odyssey and they've cast a black woman as Helen of Troy"

Homer (in a posh RADA voice) - "Surely, my son, you jest with these words…also, what is a movie?"

Me - "No, I'm dead serious Mr. Simpson" (Shows him a pic of Lupita Nyong'o)

Homer - "WTF?"

Are there any Greek actors in this? Having some Greek participation (extras etc.) while taking on a project that plays a big part in the history/mythology of Greece would be a nice nod.