Before Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey,’ You Need To Watch ‘Troy’

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With Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film, The Odyssey, on the horizon, now is a great time to revisit the 2004 war epic. After the huge success of Oppenheimer, fans are eagerly anticipating Nolan’s next project – an adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey expected in summer 2026. Featuring a star-studded cast including Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, and Zendaya, this promises to be a large-scale production comparable to Nolan’s other impressive films.

While The Odyssey is famous as a standalone story, it’s actually a continuation of the events from the Trojan War. To fully appreciate it, it helps to know the story of the war, which is detailed in Homer’s Iliad. If you don’t want to read a long, ancient text, the 2004 movie Troy is a good option. Though it changes some details, it still captures the main relationships and conflicts of the war.

‘Troy’ is a Perfect Prequel to Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’


Warner Bros. Pictures

If you enjoy historical war movies such as Gladiator and Braveheart, or if you want to familiarize yourself with the story of the Trojan War before watching The Odyssey, I recommend checking out Troy despite its mixed reception. The film boasts a strong cast, including a young Orlando Bloom, Rose Byrne, and veterans like Brian Cox and Peter O’Toole. Sean Bean also delivers a great performance as Odysseus, a character Matt Damon will play in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film.

The screenplay was written by David Benioff, one of the creators of Game of Thrones. Originally, director Wolfgang Peterson (Das Boot) wasn’t the first choice – Christopher Nolan was offered the job! Fortunately for comic book fans, Nolan decided to make Batman Begins instead. It’s fascinating to consider how different the film could have been under his direction. The story heavily focuses on themes of time and lasting impact, which would have been a great fit for Nolan’s filmmaking style.

So far, a key difference between the film Troy and Christopher Nolan’s upcoming Odyssey appears to be the presence of the Greek Gods. While gods are central to Homer’s Iliad, Troy largely focuses on the human story, only subtly suggesting any magic or divine intervention. The Odyssey, however, relies heavily on mythological elements, and audiences can anticipate Matt Damon’s Odysseus encountering gods and monsters from Greek mythology during his travels.

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2025-11-05 23:02