The epic two minute trailer for The Odyssey gives film fans a glimpse of Christopher Nolan‘s next ambitious movie, and the footage briefly reveals the one thing that the director hasn’t done in his almost 30 year-long career in Hollywood.
Nolan has assembled an all-star cast for The Odyssey alongside Matt Damon as the Greek hero Odysseus, who spends 10 years fighting in the Trojan war, and another 10 years trying to return home to the island of Ithaca. The Bourne Identity star is joined by the likes of Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Jon Bernthal, Mia Goth, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, John Leguizamo, Zendaya, and Charlize Theron.
The movie is based on the Ancient Greek story of the same name by Homer (no, not that one) and Nolan spent 91 days shooting the film across the world including at locations in Scotland, Iceland, Morocco, Greece, and Italy.
Nolan’s dedication to filming as much as possible on location is nothing new, as he’s filmed many of his biggest movies across the world, rather than relying on soundstages or closed sets. But the new trailer for The Odyssey just revealed something that he’s never done before, and it could be game changing.
The Odyssey reveals a glimpse at Christopher Nolan’s monsters
The footage that arrived on December 22 revealed a glimpse at monsters like the Cyclops as well as an army of undead soldiers. This is first time that Christopher Nolan has depicted actual monsters in one of his movies. Other films have come close, like Scarecrow’s creepy visions in Batman Begins, and an argument could be made that Heath Ledger’s Joker is a monster in his own right in The Dark Knight.
But The Odyssey looks like it will deliver proper movie monsters in the traditional sense, which will be fascinating to see, since Nolan has never really embraced the supernatural. Movies like Interstellar and The Prestige blur the lines between action, drama, and science-fiction, but The Odyssey will take that a step further.
At the 1:13 mark in the new trailer, Nolan shows off a glimpse of the Cyclops in the cave as Odysseus and his soldiers look on in horror. While towards the end of the trailer, a group of seemingly-undead soldiers wearing intimidating black armor crawl their way out of a black sandy beach. This was likely shot in Iceland which is known for its volcanic beaches.
If that wasn’t enough, The Odyssey will also deliver a handful of other mystical beings in the story, including Zendaya as Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war who protects Odysseus. Charlize Theron will also play the witch Circe, who turns Odysseus’ crew in to pigs when they arrive on her island home of Aeaea.
It’s worth noting that there are a bunch of other actors whose roles are unconfirmed, like It: Welcome to Derry stars Jovan Adepo and James Remar, Samantha Morton, Elliot Page and Logan Marshall-Green. So expect some surprise appearances from other characters from both the original Illiad and Odyssey stories.
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