'The Odyssey's Final Trailer Confirms A Major Story Change
Christopher Nolan's ancient epic is focused more on the family than we first thought.
The Odyssey is a tale based on the oral tradition, which makes adaptations particularly tricky. We don’t really know the exact text of the story as it was delivered as a performance over the course of years, and the process of translating what we do have written down is enough to fuel debates for centuries.
One thing that can’t be argued, though, is the process of events. Odysseus masterminds the Trojan Horse plan, tries to get home, defies Poseidon, and spends the next decade going from island to island and obstacle to obstacle. Meanwhile, his family back in Ithaca takes a back seat, waiting patiently for the return of their king.
Christopher Nolan’s upcoming take on The Odyssey was always going to be a little different — for one, everyone has American accents — but the final trailer for the film reveals a major change to the story structure. Check it out below:
Much of this trailer has been seen before, but there are some big reveals, especially with the Ithaca storyline. We see Penelope (Anne Hathaway) sitting at her loom, where she weaves and unweaves her husband’s burial shroud, and Odysseus’ son Telemachus (Tom Holland) defending his choice to wait for his dad against Antinous (Robert Pattinson), the lead suitor trying to win Penelope’s hand (and her riches).
“You’re pining for a daddy you didn't even know,” Antinous says. “Like some sniveling bastard.” The main focus of this trailer, released only two weeks before the movie, seems to be on the Ithaca side of the story, intercut with Odysseus (Matt Damon) encountering his mythical trials on the sea.
Nolan’s version of The Odyssey appears to put more emphasis on Ithaca.
And that’s not all. This trailer also shows one of the least relevant but most beloved characters in the entire saga: Argos, Odysseus’ dog, who was just a puppy when he left for Troy. When Odysseus returns to Ithaca 20 years later, he’s recognized first by a now very old Argos, who immediately collapses, dying of old age. If this trailer shows both forms of Argos, it seems like he’ll play a bigger role in this movie as well.
The Odyssey has always been a story of rip-roaring adventure and man against the gods, but apparently, Christopher Nolan sees things a little differently. By focusing on Penelope, Telemachus, and the suitors, it morphs into a story about faith, love, and refusing to give up hope. Penelope could have accepted that her husband was lost at sea, but she knew whom she married. “Ithaca’s king is coming back,” Penelope says in the trailer, and she means it.
