An opening six-minute prologue for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey will screen ahead of Avatar: Fire and Ash this weekend (it actually leaked online last week), and EW has now shared some new stills spotlighting several of the epic adaptation's main players.
In addition to Matt Damon as Odysseus, the images feature Tom Holland as his son, Telemachus, Anne Hathaway as his mother and Odysseus' wife, Penelope, Himesh Patel as Greek warrior Eurylochus, and Robert Pattinson as Antinous, one of the men vying for Penelope's hand in marriage back in Ithaca.
Most of these characters do not appear in the prologue, which shows Odysseus and his men hiding in the legendary giant wooden horse as Trojan soldiers drag it into the city, jabbing swords through it to check for Greeks.
When night falls, the legendary hero leads an attack, stealthily taking down enemies as the Greeks attempt to open the main gate, and the tension builds to the beginning of a full-scale battle.
The preview concludes with quick flashes of action, and we get to see the giant Cyclops known as Polyphemus. The quality of the clip means the monster is mostly obscured, unfortunately, but it's still possible to make out some of the practical creature design.
"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.