Director Christopher Nolan said that the world’s original superheroes can be found in Homer’s The Odyssey while appearing on Stephen Colbert’s show on Monday. Describing Homer’s place in storytelling, Nolan compared it to Marvel and DC book culture.
In an interview on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Nolan drew a link between the ancient Greek epic and modern superhero franchises. The director also emphasised that The Odyssey actors Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway and Robert Pattinson had all appeared in major superhero blockbusters. That led him to compare the ancient Greek epic with modern comic book franchises.
Nolan continued the comparison and said, “The thing about Homer, it is the Marvel of its day. It is very directly this desire for us to feel or believe gods could walk amongst us, and I think the modern comic book is kind of our expression of that.”
The Odyssey has assembled a large ensemble cast, with Pattinson joined by Zendaya, Mia Goth, Jon Bernthal, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron, Elliot Page and Benny Safdie alongside Damon, Holland and Hathaway.
“Even comic book culture, whether you’re talking about Marvel or DC or all the rest, a lot of it comes directly from the Homeric Epics. The thing about Homer is, nobody knows if that was a person. Homer, in a way, is the sort of George Lucas of his time,” he said.
Adapting Homer’s epic for the big screen
The film features Matt Damon as Odysseus, Holland as Telemachus and Hathaway as Penelope. Nolan’s last film, Oppenheimer, was released on July 21, 2023, and he recently told the Associated Press that while The Odyssey is still “an epic film”, its run time will be shorter than his three-hour biopic, adding that adapting such a well-known story comes with a “massive amount of pressure”.
Speaking about Holland, who plays Odysseus’ son Telemachus in The Odyssey, Nolan said he may have been among the last filmmakers in Hollywood to fully realise the actor’s abilities. After working with him on the film, Nolan said he would be happy to team up with Holland again. “He’s amazing,” Nolan said. “I’ve not worked with him before, but I would love to work with him again. I mean, he’s just an incredible talent. He’s so, so great.”
Hathaway, who previously starred in Nolan’s Interstellar and The Dark Knight Rises, reunites with the director in The Odyssey as Penelope, Odysseus’ wife and the queen of Ithaca.
Bringing the Odyssey to life
Nolan also told the Associated Press that he had “really tried to make the best film possible” while adapting the story. He said the project remains epic in scale even though it will run shorter than Oppenheimer, and spoke about the challenge of taking on material as widely known as The Odyssey.
Summing up that challenge, Nolan said: “Anyone taking on The Odyssey is taking on the hopes and dreams of people for epic movies everywhere and that comes with a huge responsibility. What I learnt from (making The Dark Knight trilogy) is that what people want from a movie about a beloved story, a beloved set of characters, is they want a strong and sincere interpretation. They want to know that a filmmaker has gone to the mat for it.”
The Odyssey is set for a major box office face-off. The film will release on July 17 alongside Spider-Man: Brand New Day, backed by Disney and Sony Pictures.
In a rare move, tickets for select 70mm screenings were released a year in advance, in July 2025.
