Following on from his Oscar-winning Oppenheimer a few years ago, the second trailer for Christopher Nolan’s next film, The Odyssey, finally dropped on May 4.
Based on Homer’s classic Greek epic of the same name, this film follows Odysseus as he tries to find his way home after the Trojan War.
Film News Blitz’s Oscar Trinick has more on the trailer and what the film could offer.
Greek epic
For those who aren’t aware of their classic literature, Christopher Nolan’s newest epic is based on the Odyssey from the ancient Greek poet Homer.
He is widely credited as the author of two of the founding poems of ancient Greek literature, between the Iliad and the Odyssey.
The work of fiction is said to date all the way back to the 8th or 7th century BC.
The first English translation wasn’t brought about until the 16th century.
The book follows Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, as he tries to return home after the ten-year-long Trojan War.
During that journey home, he and his crewmates encounter several mythical beings.
Some of these include the Cyclops Polyphemus, to the sirens, the nymph Calypso and even a six-headed monster, Scylla.
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A stacked cast
Nolan is known for his A-list casts, with this one being no different.
Matt Damon will star as Odysseus, with Tom Holland playing his son Telemachus and Anne Hathaway playing his wife Penelope.
Robert Pattinson appears to be playing Antinous, a villainous character, with Zendaya playing Athena, and Charlize Theron as Calypso.
The rest of the cast includes Lupita Nyong’o, Jon Bernthal, Benny Safdie, and John Leguizamo.
Himesh Patel, Mia Goth, Elliot Page, Logan Marshall-Green, and Travis Scott, will also star in some more minor roles.
Trailer details
The first teaser didn’t give us a whole lot to chew on, but this one lays out the groundwork for character identity and specific plot points.
The trailer opens with Matt Damon’s Odysseus trying to recount the events of Troy, before he says, “Help me go home.”
We get snippets of his home in Ithaca, as Pattinson’s Antinous says this place is “waiting for a master.”
His character seems to be eyeing up an opportunity to rule that place in Odysseus’ wake.
Telemachus and Antinous confront each other, as Holland’s character speaks of Ithaca as if it has fallen to ruin.
We then get to see shots of Polyphemus the Cyclops in his cave, snatching up a victim to eat, and later running through trees on his island.
Close combat
Odysseus leads an army on a barren landscape as he goads them into a charge.
He and his crewmates come into battle with a set of tall men, coated in large silver armour, as one of his men gets thrown into and through a tree.
We get brief hints of fights breaking out at Ithaca, as Pattinson says he “needs everyone at this party dead.”
The trailer ends with a shot of a whirlpool, most likely home to the monster Charybdis, detailed in Homer’s literature, as Odysseus speaks of defying the gods.
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