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The first Trailer for “The Odyssey” It already hints: Christopher Nolan’s new film will feature a Cyclops. This is not surprising, since the “Oppenheimer” director filmed the legendary poem cycle “Odyssey” by Homer, which is teeming with strange, dangerous (un)creatures.
But what or who do we get to see in the literary adaptation, which was shot at great expense in IMAX? Nolan and other people involved in the production have not yet made any statements about all the creatures themselves, but from the first scenes, production information and other reports it is already possible to narrow down what awaits us from July 16, 2026.
The first trailer clearly shows a very large creature in a cave, which is only seen briefly but is clearly identifiable as the one-eyed cyclops Polyphemus. This encounter is one of the most famous episodes of the “Odyssey”.
What effects does Nolan use in “The Odyssey”?
It is still unclear how Nolan developed the monster. The director, who relies on classic film material and not computer-generated effects, indicated in advance that he wanted to pay homage in his own way to the legendary animator Ray Harryhausen, who in the past designed iconic screen monsters in films such as “Sinbad’s 7th Voyage”.
“The Odyssey” will also feature the powerful witch goddess Circe. She turns Odysseus’ men into pigs and is played by Charlize Theron in the film. The infamous sirens, who sing dangerously seductively, will also appear in Nolan’s film adaptation.
It is also clear that Athena, the goddess of wisdom and martial arts, is embodied by Zendaya in the film. She will stand by Odysseus and help him pass the trials.
Although there are no pictures or reports of it yet, it is likely that Poseidon will also appear as Odysseus’s antagonist. In the verse story, Odysseus punishes him relentlessly on his journey home because Odysseus blinded his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus.
Not a monster story
Important to know: If Nolan follows the core of the myth, then “The Odyssey” will not be a parade of monsters, but rather a traumatic tale in which creatures emerge as embodiments of psychological states. Even if nothing is known about it yet, according to the original, there could also be encounters with Hades in the underworld, the blind seer Tiresias and the sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis.
“There’s a little bit of everything in it,” Christopher Nolan recently told Empire about his desire to really adapt a lot of the details of the expansive story. The director recently tested his XXL material with a six-minute prologue to “The Odyssey” in selected IMAX theaters before screenings of “Sinners,” “One Battle After Another” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” According to Variety.
However, there are no monsters to be seen here. Instead, you can see, among other things, the famous Trojan horse landing in Troy.