Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey just dropped a new trailer, and it turns out that adapting Homer’s epic means actually showing the Cyclops, which is the kind of visual flex that separates real filmmakers from people who just read the CliffsNotes. The Odyssey trailer gives us Matt Damon’s Odysseus facing off against Polyphemus in IMAX glory, and the result is exactly as unsettling as you’d expect from the man who made Oppenheimer feel like a horror movie.
The Odyssey is Nolan’s 13th film and his first foray into ancient mythology, which means he’s treating Greek gods like he treated quantum physics—with absolute seriousness and a budget that could fund a small nation. The Odyssey trailer shows Damon looking appropriately weathered as the hero who just wants to go home but keeps getting distracted by sea monsters, witch-goddesses, and Robert Pattinson trying to steal his wife.
Speaking of Pattinson, The Odyssey casts him as Antinous, the lead suitor trying to take Penelope’s hand while Odysseus is off adventuring. The Odyssey trailer frames him as a villainous presence, all smarm and ambition, which is perfect casting for an actor who has made a career of playing beautiful weirdos. Anne Hathaway plays Penelope, Tom Holland plays their son Telemachus, and Zendaya plays Athena, because apparently Nolan decided to collect every Oscar nominee in Hollywood for one movie.
The Odyssey Cyclops reveal is the trailer’s centerpiece. Shot entirely on IMAX film cameras—a first for narrative features—The Odyssey presents Polyphemus with the kind of scale and texture that makes you believe in giants. Nolan told the AP that he “shot over 2 million feet of film” during production, which is either artistic dedication or evidence that he never learned to delete bad takes.
The Odyssey arrives July 17, 2026, the same day as Spider-Man: Brand New Day, recreating the Barbenheimer phenomenon that made Oppenheimer a cultural event. Nolan seems confident, though he admitted to “massive pressure” in taking on Homer’s epic. “Anyone taking on The Odyssey is taking on the hopes and dreams of people for epic movies everywhere,” he said, with the humility of a man who just won Best Picture.
The Odyssey promises to be the mythic action epic that sword-and-sandal fans have been waiting for since Gladiator. With Nolan’s precision, Damon’s everyman gravitas, and a Cyclops that actually looks scary, this might be the film that makes ancient Greece cool again.
Face the monster—see The Odyssey in theaters July 17, 2026, and experience Christopher Nolan’s IMAX vision of Homer’s epic.
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