Universal Pictures
Christopher Nolan has been discussing his adaptation of The Odyssey, and the story’s influence on superhero movies.
Christopher Nolan guested on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ to discuss his career, and promote his forthcoming adaptation of Homer’s The Oddyssey.
The film stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, while the supporting cast features Anne Hathaway as his wife Penelope, and Tom Holland as son Telemachus.
Nolan debuted a new trailer that spotlighted Robert Pattinson as Antonious, and while he wouldn’t be drawn into a chat about Odyssey spoilers, Nolan also spoke about how the story has impacted the work of Marvel and DC.
Christpher Nolan says Marvel and DC come “pretty directly” from The Odyssey
Speaking about the influence of The Odyssey – and whether or not comic book characters are directly related to that story’s characters – Nolan says: “They are. They’re the original superheroes. Even comic book culture, whether you’re talking about Marvel or DC or all the rest, a lot of it comes pretty directly from the Homeric epics.
“The thing about Homer is, nobody knows if that was a person. Homer, in a way, is the sort of George Lucas, maybe, of his time.”
Nolan continues: “It’s the Marvel of its day. I think there’s very directly this desire for us to feel or believe that gods could walk amongst us, and I think the modern comic book is kind of our expression of that.”
The film sees the writer-director reuniting with longtime collaborators Damon and Hathaway, but it was the first time he’d worked with Spider-Man star Holland, whom he calls “amazing.”
“I would love to work with him again,” says Nolan. “He’s just an incredible talent. As everyone else but me knew before I got into it with him. But he’s so, so great.”
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The Odyssey is out on July 17, 2026, while you can head here for our ranking of Christopher Nolan movies.
