Christopher Nolan calls criticism of 'The Odyssey' casting decisions 'irrelevant'
I did not expect Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" to become the biggest cultural lightning rod on my 2026 bingo card, yet it's only heating up with the film set to hit theaters next week.
Nolan's adaptation has been a punching bag for many moviegoers, myself included, in the months leading up to its much-anticipated release. The criticism has largely centered on the race-swapping of Helen of Troy by casting Lupita Nyong'o, as well as the inclusion of 5-foot-nothing biological female Elliot (formerly Ellen) Page as the Greek warrior Sinon. Other complaints include the modernized dialogue and the film's apparent inspiration from Emily Wilson's liberal translation of the Greek Epic.
Now Nolan is gaslighting critics who are rightfully upset or simply questioning the film's clear liberal creative decisions by calling their concerns "irrelevant."
While speaking with The Telegraph, Nolan said that the backlash the film has received "comes with the territory."
Nolan added, "These conversations that happen before people see the film – they’re always irrelevant, because no one having them knows what the film actually is yet."
It's true that it's premature to make a final judgment about a film that 99.9% of the world hasn't seen yet, aside from a handful of traditional film critics and members of the press, who have done nothing but praise it. (What a coincidence.) The problem, though, is that Nolan seems to believe legitimate criticism carries no weight simply because the film hasn't been released to the general public.
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Is race-swapping characters an issue with the majority of moviegoers? Yes, for the most part. Audiences have been subjected to White characters portrayed by Black actors and actresses many times over the past decade or so. Those decisions are rooted in a specific left-wing political movement and their causes, including DEI.
The live action "Little Mermaid" was portrayed by a black actress, "Rings of Power" includes black dwarves and multicultural elves, the new "Harry Potter" show will include a black actor portraying Professor Severus Snape, House Velaryon characters are portrayed by Black actors and actresses in "House of the Dragon," live action "Snow White" was played by the insufferable Rachel Zegler who has Colombian ancestry, "Wheel of Time" race-swapped many characters — the list goes on and on.
Audiences can look past some race-swapping decisions because they don't necessarily preach a modern political message of diversity, equity, and inclusion or affect the character or story in a major way — if at all. Commissioner James Gordon in "The Batman" (the latest Batman adaptation, not to be confused with Christopher Nolan's trilogy), starring Robert Pattinson, was race-swapped, for example. I didn't really care, and there was little, if any, backlash. The same can't be said for race-swapping Helen of Troy or casting Zendaya as Athena.
"The Odyssey" is a Greek Epic. Helen of Troy isn’t African. Athena is a GREEK goddess. Race-swapping those characters are within themselves a political statement worthy of criticism. Denouncing those criticisms as "irrelevant" sounds more like arrogance and deflection than anything.
The film also has the Elliot Page issue. Page is a biological female larping as a male, portraying a Greek warrior. Not only is the film race-swapping, it’s gender-swapping. Again, the inclusion of Page is a blatant political statement rooted in DEI. Criticizing that casting is fair game.
I believe those two specific criticisms should not be ignored. The controversy, which Nolan created by allowing the casting decisions — not because critics like myself have questioned and condemned them — should be tackled head-on. You made the decisions. Now stand by them. Admit you race-swapped the characters. Provide your justification. Don’t deflect. Own it.
Nolan went on to say, "What I learned over my time on [the Batman] trilogy is you can’t worry about any of that [criticism] at all. What you have to do is honor the original text by interpreting it in the strongest way you personally can."
The best way you can "honor the original text" is faithfully adapting it, Christopher.
What you’re doing is being subversive. You’re making political, divisive statements with these decisions, whether you want to admit to it or not.
Audiences questioning whether the film is taking inspiration from — or even directly drawing on — Emily Wilson's liberal translation of the Greek Epic is not irrelevant. It matters to the story being adapted for the silver screen because, based on Nyong'o's comments about Homer's perceived lack of female representation in the original work (a claim that is highly disputed), your statement on "The Four Cast" that the film was made for "modern audiences," and a basic understanding of Wilson's translation, those concerns are understandable.
Nolan, you seem to be gaslighting critics throughout the film's pre-release press tour, including when "The Four Cast" pressed you about using modern vernacular, such as Tom Holland's Telemachus saying "dad" and Robert Pattinson's Antinous saying "daddy." You dismissed that criticism as rooted in illogical "cultural prejudice."
Good grief.
Scholars say the term "dad" wasn’t culturally normal until the 17th century, thousands of years after "The Odyssey" was even said to be written. You can’t just say, "Well, if you don’t like that I’m not being faithful to the source material, your criticism is irrelevant and you have prejudices to work through."
Liberal audiences, publications like Variety , and you, the director, can dismiss this specific criticism about the dialogue as silly all you want. But for an award-winning filmmaker whose work is widely praised for its immersive quality, dialogue like this pulls viewers out of what is supposed to be an authentic Ancient Greek world. It feels inauthentic and out of place in the very setting you're claiming to portray faithfully. That criticism is not irrelevant.
This movie could be fine overall, but it has some clear issues worth debating and discussing.
Finally, if Nolan truly wanted to give "The Odyssey" a modern interpretation, as he has stated, he shouldn’t have based it in Ancient Greece. Problem solved.