Christopher Nolan looked at Robert Pattinson and said, “You know what? Let’s make you the bad guy.” The result is Pattinson playing Antinous in The Odyssey, the arrogant suitor who tries to steal Penelope while Odysseus is off fighting monsters, and it’s the kind of casting that makes you root for the villain even when you know you shouldn’t.
The Odyssey gives Pattinson his second collaboration with Nolan after Tenet, where he played the protagonist’s mysterious ally. This time, Pattinson gets to be the antagonist—a rich, entitled suitor who assumes Odysseus is dead and tries to take his throne, his wife, and his life. The Odyssey trailer shows Pattinson with the smarmy confidence of a man who has never been punched in the face, which makes his inevitable comeuppance all the more satisfying.
What makes Pattinson’s Antinous interesting is that he’s not a monster or a god—he’s just a jerk with money and ambition. The Odyssey pits him against Matt Damon’s Odysseus in a battle of wits and wills that doesn’t require special effects to be compelling. Pattinson has spent his post-Twilight career choosing weird, challenging roles, and The Odyssey gives him a classic villain archetype filtered through his particular brand of intensity.
The Odyssey cast is full of heavy hitters—Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Tom Holland as Telemachus, Zendaya as Athena—but Pattinson’s Antinous stands out because he’s the human-scale threat. While Odysseus faces Cyclopes and sirens on his journey, the real danger at home is just a guy who wants what isn’t his. That’s scarier in some ways than any mythological beast.
Nolan clearly trusts Pattinson to carry complex material. Their Tenet collaboration established a shorthand, and The Odyssey lets Pattinson play antagonist with the same commitment he brought to Batman. The result is a villain who feels contemporary despite the ancient setting—an entitled aristocrat who thinks power is his birthright.
The Odyssey arrives July 17, 2026, and Pattinson’s presence guarantees that the homecoming conflict will be as compelling as the seafaring adventure. Sometimes the worst monsters don’t have one eye—they just have no conscience.
Watch the villain fall—see The Odyssey in theaters July 17 and witness Robert Pattinson’s delicious turn as ancient Greece’s worst houseguest.
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