{"id":3540,"date":"2026-07-11T08:26:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T03:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=3540"},"modified":"2026-07-11T08:26:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T03:26:15","slug":"nolan-calls-odyssey-backlash-irrelevant-leans-on-batman-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=3540","title":{"rendered":"Nolan calls \u2018Odyssey\u2019 backlash irrelevant, leans on Batman experience"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/twt-thumbs.washtimes.com\/media\/image\/2026\/07\/09\/Britain_The_Odyssey_World_Premiere_4_448_s1440x960.jpg?f72536d07237fdd262042ae8f5e6e6de3b865f3c\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p data-sourcepos=\"3:1-3:285;71-355\">Director <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/christopher-nolan\/\">Christopher Nolan<\/a> says he isn\u2019t losing sleep over months of online criticism aimed at his big-budget adaptation of Homer\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/the-odyssey\/\">The Odyssey<\/a>,\u201d arguing that pre-release commentary about the film\u2019s casting and design choices carries little weight before anyone has actually seen it.<\/p>\n<p data-sourcepos=\"5:1-5:629;357-985\">In an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/entertainment\/action-movies\/christopher-nolan-says-hes-not-bothered-by-irrelevant-backlash-to-the-odyssey-because-he-spent-10-years-dealing-with-batman\/\">interview with The Telegraph<\/a>, Mr. Nolan said the backlash \u201ccomes with the territory\u201d of adapting a classical text, arguing that criticism voiced before release rarely holds up: \u201cthese conversations that happen before people see the film \u2014 they\u2019re always irrelevant.\u201d He pointed to his decade directing the \u201cDark Knight\u201d trilogy as proof that outcry over a beloved property tends to fade once audiences see the finished film for themselves.<\/p>\n<p data-sourcepos=\"7:1-7:650;987-1636\">\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/the-odyssey\/\">The Odyssey<\/a>,\u201d a $250 million epic starring Matt Damon as Odysseus alongside Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/lupita-nyongo\/\">Lupita Nyong\u2019o<\/a>, opens in theaters July 17. Much of the criticism has centered on Ms. Nyong\u2019o\u2019s casting as Helen of Troy, along with transgender actor Elliot Page\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/entertainment\/the-odyssey-move-comments-disabled-casting-backlash-12167065\">role as the Greek soldier<\/a> Sinon, who persuades the Trojans to bring the wooden horse inside their city walls. The character does not appear in Homer\u2019s poem at all; he comes from Virgil\u2019s \u201cAeneid\u201d and other post-Homeric traditions.<\/p>\n<p data-sourcepos=\"9:1-9:706;1638-2343\">Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk has been among the most vocal critics, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/elon-musk-lupita-nyongo-christopher-nolan-the-odyssey-1236595282\/\">writing on X<\/a> in late January that \u201cChris Nolan has lost his integrity\u201d over Ms. Nyong\u2019o\u2019s casting, a post that predated confirmation of her role. Mr. Musk later amplified posts accusing the director of favoring diversity over faithfulness to the source material, and in May <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/conormurray\/2026\/05\/15\/musk-boosts-misinformation-about-the-odyssey-in-days-long-crusade-against-christopher-nolan-movie\/\">wrote that Mr. Nolan<\/a> had \u201cdesecrated\u201d the poem to chase Academy Award eligibility.<\/p>\n<p data-sourcepos=\"11:1-11:591;2345-2935\">Daily Wire commentator Matt Walsh also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/elon-musk-lupita-nyongo-christopher-nolan-the-odyssey-1236595282\/\">criticized the casting<\/a> on X, writing that \u201cNolan is technically talented but a coward\u201d for choosing Ms. Nyong\u2019o over a white actress, a post Mr. Musk endorsed. Ms. Nyong\u2019o, who was born in Mexico and grew up in Kenya, has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/entertainment\/the-odyssey-move-comments-disabled-casting-backlash-12167065\">previously brushed off<\/a> the criticism, telling reporters the story is mythological rather than historical.<\/p>\n<p data-sourcepos=\"13:1-13:533;2937-3469\">Mr. Nolan has also defended the film\u2019s armor design after some online commentators said the look of the character Agamemnon, played by Benny Safdie, resembled Batman\u2019s suit. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.comingsoon.net\/movies\/news\/2132544-the-odyssey-christopher-nolan-addresses-armor-controversy\">Speaking with Time magazine<\/a>, he pointed to real Bronze Age artifacts as inspiration: \u201cThere are Mycenaean daggers that are blackened bronze,\u201d he said, explaining the material choice was meant to signal Agamemnon\u2019s wealth relative to other characters.<\/p>\n<p data-sourcepos=\"15:1-15:492;3471-3962\">Universal Pictures has taken note of the pre-release furor even as the studio touts strong advance interest in the film; many IMAX screenings reportedly sold out months before release. The studio <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/obsessed\/the-odyssey-director-christopher-nolan-fires-back-at-his-maga-critics\/\">restricted comments<\/a> on the film\u2019s official X account after a wave of hostile posts, though Mr. Nolan indicated the reaction wouldn\u2019t change his approach to adapting classic material.<\/p>\n<aside>\n<\/aside>\n<p>                        <a name=\"pagebreak\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-sourcepos=\"17:1-17:264;3964-4227\">Mr. Nolan drew a similar parallel to his Batman years in closing, telling The Telegraph that fans of a beloved property tend to embrace an adaptation once they sense the sincerity behind it, even when the choices made differ from what audiences expected going in.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #3e3e3e;\"><em><br \/>\n                          This article was constructed with the assistance of artificial intelligence and published by a member of The Washington Times&#8217; AI News Desk team. The contents of this report are based solely on The Washington Times&#8217; original reporting, wire services, and\/or other sources cited within the report. For more information, please read our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/ai-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\">AI policy<\/a> or contact Steve Fink, Director of Artificial Intelligence, at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2026\/jul\/10\/christopher-nolan-calls-odyssey-backlash-irrelevant-leans-batman\/mailto:sfink@washingtontimes.com\">sfink@washingtontimes.com<\/a><br \/>\n                      <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #3e3e3e;\"><em><br \/>\n                          The Washington Times AI Ethics Newsroom Committee can be reached at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2026\/jul\/10\/christopher-nolan-calls-odyssey-backlash-irrelevant-leans-batman\/mailto:aispotlight@washingtontimes.com\">aispotlight@washingtontimes.com<\/a>.<br \/>\n                      <\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Director Christopher Nolan says he isn\u2019t losing sleep over months of online criticism aimed at his big-budget adaptation of Homer\u2019s \u201cThe Odyssey,\u201d arguing that pre-release commentary about the film\u2019s casting and design choices carries little weight before anyone has actually seen it. In an interview with The Telegraph, Mr. Nolan said the backlash \u201ccomes with&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/twt-thumbs.washtimes.com\/media\/image\/2026\/07\/09\/Britain_The_Odyssey_World_Premiere_4_448_c0-234-5616-3510_s1200x700.jpg?cb8bdaaafe19aeefebbc81a4d50578aeb1d81bb7","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}