Look, you’re going to see The Odyssey. Universal knows it, you and I know it, and Christopher Nolan knows it. Nolan’s first movie after the triumph of Oppenheimer? A big, old-school epic with gods and monsters and warriors and big ships? Up-and-coming movie stars like Zendaya and Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson, alongside established greats such as Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway? Also, John Leguizamo, returning to his Romeo + Juliet roots to once again adapt a work of classic literature?!?
But here’s the thing: does anyone know what The Odyssey is actually about? Is there a modern version of Ducktales to educate the public about Sirens and Circe and Helen of Troy? Clearly, Universal isn’t taking any chances, as the final trailer lays out the basic plot beats. For those who could use a little more explanation, let’s break down the storylines set up in the trailer.
The trailer opens with Zendaya exercising the “ethereal perfume commercial” muscles she built for the first Dune, as the goddess Athena urges the shipwrecked Odysseus to remember his home in Ithaca. Played by Matt Damon, Odysseus has been fighting under King Agamemnon in the Trojan War for 10 years, and is ready to return home, but has been captured by the nymph Callisto (Charlize Theron). Odysseus’ decade-long journey back to Ithaca makes up the main plot of The Odyssey, as he’s constantly waylaid by monsters and witches and dumb crew people who open magic bags of air too early.
Next, we see what Odysseus has left behind, namely his wife Penelope (Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Holland). The trailer leans hard into the romantic and familial longing of those who miss their husband and father, as you’d expect from a modern blockbuster. However, the source text was less concerned about romantic feelings, something the original audience wouldn’t have thought about in the individualistic terms we use today, and more about the social implications.
