Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ might be a cinematic marvel, but it gets one major detail wrong
Known for his attention to detail, Christopher Nolan gets most details right in his upcoming cinematic epic, 'The Odyssey'. Well, almost. Much has been documented on the historical accuracy of his production, and the recently released trailer shows a brief glimpse of Odyssey.
One of the major discussion points is Odysseus's (Matt Damon) helmet in the film that has sparked quite the buzz among fans. The footage sees Damon's armour very similar to the hoplite armour from the Archaic era, and is not too inaccurate to Homer's work. It's worth noting that the events of the film are widely believed to be set in the Late Bronze Age, while Homer's descriptions strongly lean towards the Archaic Era, his own time period.
In his work, the Greek soldiers are wearing what is almost certainly Corinthian helmets. The mask was bronze, which covered most of the face with openings for the eyes and the mouth. They top off with a crest and plume of horsehair on the top. The helmets in the trailer are similar to the Corinthian, though the major inaccuracy is the opening in the front rather than the counterparts. While there are significant changes, what does matter at the end is Nolan's efforts to keep things as close to the real thing.
Per Universal, the description attached to the trailer reads, "Christopher Nolan’s next film, The Odyssey, is a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX® film technology. The film brings Homer’s foundational saga to IMAX® film screens for the first time and opens in theaters everywhere on July 17, 2026."
"The Odyssey stars Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, and Lupita Nyong’o, with Zendaya and Charlize Theron. The Odyssey is produced by Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan for their company, Syncopy. The executive producer is Thomas Hayslip."
In his interview with Empire, Nolan spoke of the extensive work on the ambitious project. "As a filmmaker, you’re looking for gaps in cinematic culture, things that haven’t been done before," he said. "And what I saw is that all of this great mythological cinematic work that I had grown up with – Ray Harryhausen movies and other things – I’d never seen that done with the sort of weight and credibility that an A-budget and a big Hollywood, IMAX production could do."
'The Odyssey' releases in theaters on July 17, 2026.
