{"id":2604921,"date":"2026-05-20T08:52:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T12:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/christopher-nolans-the-odyssey-increasingly-looks-like-an-epic-disaster\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T08:55:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T12:55:48","slug":"christopher-nolans-the-odyssey-increasingly-looks-like-an-epic-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/christopher-nolans-the-odyssey-increasingly-looks-like-an-epic-disaster\/","title":{"rendered":"Christopher Nolan\u2019s Odyssey Looks Like An Epic Disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fchristopher-nolans-the-odyssey-increasingly-looks-like-an-epic-disaster%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2604921&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The text argues that Christopher Nolan\u2019s upcoming *Odyssey* is highly likely to be a poor fit for the epic and not worth seeing, pointing first to casting choices it portrays as misguided. While praising Matt Damon as Odysseus, it criticizes anne Hathaway as Penelope and Tom Holland as Telemachus for lacking believable range for their supposedly central, emotionally intense roles. It then claims the film\u2019s \u201cwoke\u201d casting will undercut the story,arguing that Zendaya as Athena,Lupita Nyong\u2019o as Helen,Travis Scott as a bard,and further roles for Charlize Theron,John Leguizamo,and Elliot Page are all either inappropriate or distracting.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond casting, the piece complains about the film\u2019s visual style, describing the trailer\u2019s scenes as drab and uninspired compared with the vibrant energy of Homer. It also says Nolan appears to be reframing Odysseus into a psychologically troubled \u201ccomplex man\u201d focused on interior conflict and guilt rather than the heroic figure of the original epic.The author concludes that audiences should instead read established translations and consider older adaptations (including a 1997 TV version and other related films), asserting that Hollywood would do better to move past what the author frames as ideological pressures.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>When Christopher Nolan\u2019s new <em>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt33764258\/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_6_nm_1_in_0_q_the%252520odyssey\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Odyssey<\/a><\/em>  film was announced, many people were understandably excited. Although composed nearly three millennia ago, the epic was tailor-made for today\u2019s big screen, featuring exotic locations, tons of spectacle, strong men and beautiful women, and dealing with the enduring themes of home, heroism, and survival.<\/p>\n<p>And yet, for all this, the only relatively recent, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/three-big-ways-amazons-rings-of-power-butchers-tolkiens-lore\/\" title=\"Three Big Ways Amazon\u2019s \u2018Rings of Power\u2019 Butchers Tolkien\u2019s Lore\">large-scale adaptation<\/a> for the screen was a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0118414\/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_4_tt_6_nm_1_in_0_q_the%252520odyssey\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">made-for-TV film<\/a> in 1997 with cheap production (just a small step above a typical episode of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0111999\/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_6_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_hercules\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Hercules: The Legendary Journeys<\/em><\/a>  with Kevin Sorbo). Despite its shortcomings, the movie at least stayed faithful to the source material and maintained a brisk pace as well as a spirit of fun.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, in an era of reboots, it only made sense for Hollywood to give the <em>Odyssey<\/em> the epic treatment it deserved under the direction of a guy like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0634240\/?ref_=tt_ov_1_1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Christopher Nolan<\/a>. He could enlist the necessary talent and apply the necessary cinematic techniques to do to Odysseus what he did for <a href=\"https:\/\/parade.com\/news\/2005-film-that-saved-a-cultural-icon-from-the-brink-now-ranked-in-greatest-movies-of-all-time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Batman<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But every piece of news, particularly the new lengthy (4000+ words) <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/article\/2026\/05\/12\/christopher-nolan-odyssey-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">puff piece<\/a> from Time magazine, has quickly eroded any hope this movie is worth seeing. With his horrible casting, drab cinematography, and intent to explore Odysseus\u2019 inner demons, Nolan seems committed to ruining his most ambitious film yet. Rather than save American cinema from its current death spiral, he has somehow brought all of its worst qualities together in this new project.<\/p>\n<h2>DEI Casting<\/h2>\n<p>The most obvious offense has been his choice of actors. Outside of Matt Damon playing Odysseus, nearly every other person in this movie has little reason to be there. Starting from the top, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0004266\/?ref_=tt_cst_t_3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Anne Hathaway<\/a> is a mediocre actress with too little depth, range, or charisma to play Odysseus\u2019 wife Penelope. The same should be said for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm4043618\/?ref_=tt_cst_t_2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tom Holland<\/a>, playing Odysseus\u2019 son Telemachus. Although both of them have risen to fame playing likable young adults, they will be difficult to believe as a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >grief-stricken queen desperately waiting<\/a> for her husband and an adult son growing up in his father\u2019s shadow.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, what has elicited more outcry has been Nolan\u2019s brazenly woke casting for the other characters. To play Athena, he cast <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm3918035\/?ref_=tt_cst_t_6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Zendaya<\/a>, an actress who suffers from incurable \u201cresting bitch face,\u201d can\u2019t act, and is too young and unserious for the part. For Helen of Troy, the princess whose superlative beauty \u201claunched a thousand ships,\u201d he cast Lupita Nyong\u2019o, a mostly forgettable actress who is known more for appearing in the Black Panther movies than being a paragon of female perfection. If one had to guess why exactly Nolan picked these actresses, it seems that being a woman of color had something to do with it.<\/p>\n<p>As for men of color, Nolan has this covered by casting the rapper <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Travis_Scott\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Travis Scott<\/a> as a bard in order to communicate \u201cthe idea that this story has been handed down as oral poetry, which is analogous to rap.\u201d Considering that the epic poem is an art form that celebrates the ideals of an ancient culture with larger-than-life characters in a larger-than-life setting while rap is a contemporary art form that glamorizes urban decay, vice, and criminality, this connection is a bit of a stretch.<\/p>\n<p>Nolan also made sure to represent the elderly with the inclusion of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0000234\/?ref_=tt_cst_t_7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Charlize Theron<\/a> as the ageless nymph Calypso and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0000491\/?ref_=tt_cst_t_14\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">John Leguizamo<\/a> as Odysseus\u2019 lieutenant Eumaeus. At 50 years old, Theron evidently clings to her glory days of being a bombshell\/action star. Meanwhile, John Leguizamo is an unfunny 65-year-old comedian best known for spouting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodintoto.com\/john-leguizamo-bill-maher-radical-left-woke\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">leftist propaganda<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/businessinsider.com\/john-leguizamo-latin-representation-problems-hollywood-2023-4?op=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">whining about racism<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But the most controversial decision (to put it mildly) for casting has been that of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0680983\/?ref_=tt_cst_t_9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Elliot Page<\/a>, formerly known as Ellen Page. Setting aside the rumor that she might play Greece\u2019s mightiest warrior Achilles, simply looking at Page after her transgender surgeries is highly distracting, if not outright disturbing. Here was a young attractive actress starring in big movies like <em>Juno<\/em>, <em>X-Men: Days of Future Past<\/em>, and <em>Inception <\/em>now reappearing as a scrawny pubescent boy. With the transgender insanity behind us, most people would probably agree Page needs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.com\/lifestyle\/article-10875109\/Elliot-Page-talks-depression-anxiety-coming-transgender.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">mental and emotional help<\/a> more than a prominent role in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/from-chasing-deals-to-turning-off-screens-cineworld-files-for-u-s-bankruptcy\/\" title=\"From chasing deals to turning off screens: Cineworld files for U.S. bankruptcy\">big-budget movie<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Colorless Visuals and \u2018Complicated Man\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>For the few who can get past these glaring problems with the cast, there are also the dull, colorless visuals of the film. As popular YouTuber Critical Drinker remarks in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=j5ZqAO8agcU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recent video<\/a>, the scenes from the trailer are dreary and uninspired. Even a person with passing familiarity with the <em>Odyssey<\/em> will note how this is the very opposite of the energy and vibrant imagery of Homer\u2019s narrative.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps Nolan does this because he wants to emphasize Odysseus\u2019 interior conflicts, potentially the worst aspect about this film. Working off the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fandompulse.com\/p\/emily-wilsons-translation-of-homers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">inaccurate and mediocre translation<\/a> of the epic from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.compactmag.com\/article\/emily-wilson-s-sack-of-homer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">woke feminist Emily Wilson<\/a>, Nolan clearly aims to tell the story of a \u201ccomplicated man,\u201d not an epic hero. Nolan\u2019s Odysseus is racked with doubt, homesickness, and guilt, a far cry from the confident, curious, and brave Odysseus of Homer and poets like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/poems\/45392\/ulysses\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Alfred Tennyson<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/digitaldante.columbia.edu\/dante\/divine-comedy\/inferno\/inferno-26\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dante Alighieri<\/a>. In a telling moment, when asked whether this new Odysseus would merely be an ancient Greek iteration of his <em>Oppenheimer <\/em>or Batman films, Nolan responded evasively, \u201cYou have to be comfortable with repeating yourself, if it\u2019s right for the project.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rather than spend so much money on what seems to be a bloated wokefest, <em>Odyssey<\/em> fans could do better by reading Robert Fagles\u2019 translation of the poem and watching the 1997 film, along with <em>Troy<\/em>, the 2004 film adaptation of the <em>Iliad<\/em> starring Brad Pitt. And if they have kids and like Jack Russell Terriers, the Wishbone <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9x9oeOLdW5A\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">episode<\/a> on the <em>Odyssey<\/em> is also worth checking out.<\/p>\n<p>Not only could Nolan have made a fortune with this new movie, he could have created something beautiful and enduring. Instead, he and his team seem primed to make an epic flop that few people will remember. Just like Odysseus left behind Troy to recover his kingdom, it\u2019s well past time that Hollywood leave the woke behind and recover its place in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/number-of-young-americans-who-identify-as-lgbt-skyrockets-poll\/\" title=\"Number Of ... Americans Who Identify As LGBT Skyrockets: Poll\">popular culture<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Auguste Meyrat is an English teacher and freelance writer in the Dallas area. He is the founding editor of <a href=\"https:\/\/everymancommentary.substack.com\/\">The Everyman<\/a>, a senior contributor to The Federalist, and has written for essays for The American Mind, The Stream, Religion and Liberty, The Blaze, and elsewhere. He is also the host of &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/everyman-commentary\/id1826292273\">The Everyman Commentary Podcast<\/a>.&#8221; Follow him on <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/EverymanComm\">X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nolan\u2019s *Odyssey* announcement excited fans, but doubt grows as criticism mounts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":551,"featured_media":2604922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/dam2-e1778869408695.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[79989,6350,5072,5336],"class_list":["post-2604921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-christopher-nolan","tag-director","tag-epic","tag-film"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/dam2-e1778869408695.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2604921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/551"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2604921"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2604921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2604925,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2604921\/revisions\/2604925"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2604922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2604921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2604921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2604921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}