The Odyssey has a new trailer, pulling back the curtain on Christopher Nolan’s epic adventure.
The trailer reveals a number of new elements previously unseen. For example, we get a first look at Argos, the loyal dog belonging to the legendary Greek king of Ithaca, Odysseus, and Charlize Theron’s Calypso. Indeed, the trailer begins with Calypso asking Odysseus, played by Matt Damon, what he remembers after some naval disaster that left him washed up on shore. He remembers his wife, Anne Hathaway’s Penelope, and his son, Tom Holland’s Telemachus. Odysseus had won the Trojan War, and now all he wants to do is go home.
At this point we get a good look at Robert Pattinson’s villainous Antinous, one of Penelope’s suitors. He’s trying to take control of Ithaca in Odysseus’ absence, and Telemachus does not like that one bit. At one point he tells Antinous: “my dad is coming home.” “Bringing vengeance?” Yes, fans of Robert Pattinson’s The Batman have already picked up on that line and are having fun with it.
The trailer reveals more of the fantastic elements we can expect to see, including a better look at the Cyclops Polyphemus, a battle with armored giants in a forest, and a desperate attempt to sail safely past a whirlpool. The trailer ends with Odysseus whispering to his men, “I think it’s asleep.” It turns out the Cyclops is very much awake.
Accompanying the release of the trailer is a new set of images, below, revealing first looks at Jimmy Gonzales as Cepheus, Himesh Patel as Eurylochus, John Leguizamo as Eumaeus, Mia Goth as Melantho, and Zendaya as Athena.
Last month, Nolan confirmed The Odyssey is shorter than his previous film, Oppenheimer, but insisted “it’s an epic film, as the subject matter demands.”
2023 biopic Oppenheimer came in at a whopping three hours (three hours is the longest Nolan and his team have been able to squeeze onto an IMAX film projector). The Odyssey will have a shorter runtime, Nolan told The Associated Press, but we still don’t know exactly how long it is. The Odyssey is described as “a mythic action epic,” and was shot across the world using brand new IMAX film technology.
The Odyssey’s runtime has been a talking point because of the sheer amount of story beats in the source material. Most believe Nolan will have to leave out significant chunks of Homer’s saga, although his movies often shoot along at a fast pace.
“It’s an epic film, as the subject matter demands,” Nolan insisted. “But it is shorter.”
Nolan spoke openly about the pressure he is under to deliver, and acknowledged fans want “a strong and sincere interpretation.”
“There’s a massive amount of pressure,” Nolan said. “Anyone taking on The Odyssey is taking on the hopes and dreams of people for epic movies everywhere and that comes with a huge responsibility.”
Nolan added that he had come away from his The Dark Knight Trilogy with an understanding of what people want from a film such as The Odyssey.
“What I learned from that experience is that what people want from a movie about a beloved story, a beloved set of characters, is they want a strong and sincere interpretation,” Nolan explained. “They want to know that a filmmaker has gone to the mat for it. I really tried to make the best film possible.”
In December last year, following the release of the debut trailer for The Odyssey, age-old debates about “historical accuracy” reemerged. Nolan’s film has faced questions about its historical accuracy — or inaccuracy, as some have put it — ever since it was revealed with a single image of Damon as Odysseus.
Damon himself has discussed how tough it was filming The Odyssey, which he said had a “profound” effect on him. “If I look objectively at what was required to do that job, I think it came at just the right time in my life,” he revealed. “I think I would’ve been miserable 20 years ago trying to do that job. Because you were uncomfortable every day, but I really enjoyed… like, deeply enjoyed every minute of it.”
Damon has spoken about having to slim down to his high school weight for the role. “I had a beard like yours for like a year,” he told Jason and Travis Kelce on a recent episode of their podcast, New Heights. “I was in really good shape. I lost a lot of weight. [Nolan] wanted me lean but strong.”
The Odyssey hits theaters on July 17, 2026.
Image credit: Melinda Sue Gordon.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
