Christopher Nolan opened up in a new interview about his approach to adapting The Odyssey, and there was one thing he knew wouldn’t be possible when approaching one of the oldest surviving works of literature. An adaptation of Homer’s ancient Greek epic, The Odyssey sees an absolutely stacked cast taking on the iconic roles. That includes Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Elliot Page, Travis Scott, and Jon Bernthal… phew. Nolan is no stranger to taking on historical tales, but this might be his most ambitious project yet – and if the first reactions are anything to go by, it’s yet another winner (are we surprised?). The oldest known surviving copy of The Odyssey was on display at the film's junket. It is over 1,700 years old. pic.twitter.com/LgFDXJLFjY — DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) July 5, 2026 But given the original Odyssey is around 3,000 years old and is one of the most intensely studied texts in human history, Nolan wanted to approach the story from the only way he knows how. The filmmaker appeared on the latest episode of Good Hang with Amy Poehler, who asked him, “How do you compete with the imagination of people who have read and studied the Odyssey? I mean, it’s like you’re competing with the idea of the Odyssey in a way.” His response? “You can’t.” Nolan went on to explain, “We all learned this through our work on the Dark Knight trilogy. You couldn’t compete with people’s idea of that amazing character and, at the time, 75 years of history behind it. “This is 3,000 years of people imagining. So you can’t compete with it.” The director said that what they realised when addressing the character of Batman is trusting what audiences want is the creators’ most sincere attempt to do justice to the material “with a seriousness and an appreciation of the original text.” This is something he brought to the Odyssey. “But it has to be your own interpretation. Certainly, I as a film-goer, respond to that in other people,” he continued. “If I go see a movie and I realise that people have loved this and have really tried to give you an experience and tried to put something across in the way that they really believe is great, I think people cut you a lot of slack for that.” For all the latest film and TV updates and hot takes, like our Facebook page. Featured image credit: Rob Latour/Shutterstock/Universal Pictures Post navigation Next storyPrevious story
