5 key takeaways from Christopher Nolan's six-minute 'The Odyssey' prologue now playing in theaters
Whenever Academy Award-winning director Christopher Nolan is about to release a new movie, the buzz all around is phenomenal. The 'Oppenheimer' director set the stage for today's practice of releasing prologue scenes from upcoming movies to hype up the momentum. For 'The Dark Knight', the elaborate bank heist scene was played before 'I Am Legend' as a prologue. All of his other movies, including 'Tenet', have upheld this tradition. And Nolan's upcoming film, 'The Odyssey', recently ran a six-minute prologue scene before the 70 mm IMAX screenings of 'One Battle After Another' and 'Sinner'. A slightly shorter version began playing before all IMAX showings of James Cameron's 'Avatar: Fire and Ash' on December 19. Here's a close look at five important revelations it made.
1) Matt Damon as Odysseus
The prologue starts with Matt Damon as Odysseus, and it can subsequently be expected that the 'Good Will Hunting' star will portray the epic character as he returns from the battles portrayed in 'Iliad', to his home, albeit through a seemingly insurmountable journey replete with Gods and monsters. When we first see him in the prologue scene, Odysseus is hiding within the Trojan horse, half-submerged in water, on his way to attack the city of Troy. Once the gates are flung open, an intense battle ensues at close quarters, and Odysseus is involved in it up to his neck, as explained in a report by Movie Web.
2) Menelaus and Telemachus
The prologue further revealed Jon Bernthal as Menelaus, the king of Sparta, and Tom Holland as Telemachus, the son of Odysseus, as per Variety. When Menelaus asks Telemachus, "Did you hear the story of the horse?”, the latter replies in the affirmative. Menelaus then proceeds with another question: "Did you hear it from the inside?" The scene then lands us right in the middle of the Trojan horse affair, setting the stage for a dramatic showdown that follows.
3) The score by Ludwig Göransson
Göransson has collaborated with Nolan on two occasions in the past, 'Tenet' and 'Oppenheimer', and seems to be on his way to score a grand hat-trick with 'The Odyssey'. The score that accompanied the prologue scene has been perfectly attuned to the action and the chaos that unfolds on screen, along with providing subtle moments of character building that have come to establish itself as one of the director's trademark styles.
4) Nolan's approach to epic fantasy
Nolan has time and again reiterated his preference for practical in-camera special effects for his films as opposed to CGI. A fleeting glimpse of a monster, akin to a cyclops, in the prologue hints at the use of impressive makeup and practical effects. However, it remains to be seen whether the 'Inception' director would stick to his guns of practical effects in creating the atmosphere of peril dictated by frightening Greek gods such as Zeus, or bank upon computer-generated special effects.
5) Absence of other stars
Although the prologue establishes Damon, Bernthal, Holland, and Ben Safdie as Agammenon, other notable stars of the upcoming film, such as Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, and Zendaya, weren't focused upon in the scene. All in all, the prologue has already been well received among audiences who are keenly waiting for the film's release on July 17, 2026.
