The Dark Knight trilogy director Christopher Nolan has assembled one of the most impressive casts we've seen in quite a while for his upcoming adaptation of The Odyssey, and it sounds like he was hoping to be able to make the ensemble an even more star-studded affair.
According to Daniel Richtman, Nolan was courting Oppenheimer Oscar-winner Robert Downey Jr. for the role of Poseidon, the Greek God of the Sea, but the actor was going to be too busy filming Avengers: Doomsday to make it work. The scooper has also heard that Nolan is staying "super faithful to the original story, and is "determined to use as many practical effects, real sets, and as much makeup work as possible."
This follows a previous report that Nolan intends to shoot the movie's Cyclops scenes at Nestor’s Cave in Greece, and a 6x6m mechanical anthropomorphic puppet of Polyphemus is being created for the sequence.
While it's a shame Downey Jr. won't be involved, it's good to know that Nolan plans on retaining the more fantastical elements of the tale.
Matt Damon was recently confirmed to play Odysseus via a first official promo image. He joins Tom Holland, Charlize Theron, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Jon Bernthal, Benny Safdie, John Leguizamo, Elliot Page and Mia Goth.
We don't actually know who anyone else is playing, but there's speculation that Holland has been cast as Odysseus' son, Telemachus.
"Christopher Nolan’s next film The Odyssey is a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand-new IMAX film technology. The film brings Homer’s foundational saga to IMAX film screens for the first time and opens in theaters everywhere on July 17, 2026," said Universal Pictures in a statement when the project was announced.
Homer's ancient Greek poem follows Odysseus and his crew on their journey home following the Trojan War, encountering all manner of threats along the way, including the Cyclops Polyphemus, the Sirens, and the witch-goddess Circe.
The poem has been adapted (sometimes very loosely) a number of times before, starting with the 1911 silent film by Giuseppe de Liguoro, and followed by 1954’s Ulysses starring Kirk Douglas. The Cohen Brothers' O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) is also based on the epic adventure, as is 2024’s The Return starring Ralph Fiennes.
Anime fans may also recall the '80s Ulysses 31 series, which put a futuristic spin on the tale.
Back in 2015, Deadpool and Wolverine star Hugh Jackman was in talks to play Odysseus in an adaptation from Lionsgate and director Francis Lawrence, but the project never got off the ground.
The Odyssey is due for release in theaters on July 17, 2026.