It was clear from the moment it was announced that Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey was a defining cinematic event of 2026, but anticipation only continued to rise as the stacked cast was revealed. Several of Hollywood’s most prominent names are set to take part, but for a long while, the only confirmed role was Matt Damon as the long-suffering protagonist, Odysseus.
Speculation swirled around the actors, especially the women – there are a number of great female characters who could’ve been distributed among the stars in almost any combination. Charlize Theron revealed she was playing Circe, a sorceress Odysseus encounters on his journey home, which narrowed the options a bit. But the latest issue of Empire Magazine unveiled several more, including Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Odysseus’ wife, and Zendaya as the goddess Athena.
She was also seen as a potential Calypso, a nymph who holds Odysseus captive on her island for years, but despite that duration, she does not appear long in Homer’s epic. Athena is a much meatier role for the young star. Or, at least, it could be.
Zendaya’s Role In The Odyssey Will Depend On How Nolan Handles The Supernatural
There’s no denying that Athena is a plumb role on the page. The Greek goddess of wisdom and war is Odysseus’ chief champion, and it’s through her aid and petitions to Zeus that his journey home is finally allowed to end. She is a near-constant presence in the story, guiding Penelope and Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, so that everything is ready for his return, when he will have to deal with the host of unruly suitors taking advantage of his home while seeking his wife’s hand.
Rarely, however, does she appear as “herself.” While the reader is always clued into her disguises, mortals rarely know they are interacting with a goddess until their conversation is over. She speaks to the principal characters as everything from a random young girl or shepherd boy to Mentor, an elderly friend of Odysseus and trusted advisor to Telemachus.
This presents anyone attempting a film adaptation with an important choice. Should the movie adopt the perspective of the Odyssey reader, who is told whenever Athena appears, or the human characters, who, even if they learn it was her, never really see her true self?
Casting one of today’s most prominent talents should signal the former – why spend the money on someone of her caliber for a handful of moments? – but with Christopher Nolan, it’s hardly so clear. In the same feature that reveals her casting, Empire notes that the director is still unwilling to explain how he’s chosen to approach The Odyssey‘s mythological elements. He did, however, tease the challenge he faced with them:
“One of the things I needed to crack was how to approach mythological elements in a sort of real-world way. The big breakthrough creatively in thinking about the gods was that everything that is now explained by science was once supernatural. Lightning, thunder, earthquakes, volcanoes… people are literally seeing gods everywhere; not even the evidence of gods, they’re seeing the actions of gods. I don’t want to say too much about it beyond indicating that yes, the evidence of the supernatural is all around these people. It’s very much a part of their lives.”
Nolan’s films are known for their groundedness, even when approaching the sci-fi or superhero genres, and he could go in any direction when it comes to portraying the gods in The Odyssey. While Athena will surely be more involved than as natural phenomena, it wouldn’t be surprising to see this movie adopt the characters’ perspectives of her scenes, which show her as a normal part of the environment before she suddenly isn’t. Nor would it be unprecedented for Nolan to cast a recognizable face for a relatively short amount of screen time.
But, if The Odyssey chooses to clue us in and have Zendaya portray all of Athena’s appearances, this role would be one of the most important in the film. The episodic nature of the story means that many characters appear only in their sections; Athena is one of the few who is threaded throughout. When the movie releases on July 17, Zendaya could either be playing one of our anchor characters, or just one face of a role played by multiple actors.
- Release Date
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July 17, 2026
- Producers
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Emma Thomas
