Christopher Nolan has responded to online criticism of his upcoming film The Odyssey, much of which has emerged from anti-lgbtq+ commentators, describing the backlash as “irrelevant”.
Speaking to the Telegraph on 10 July, the director said debates taking place before audiences have seen a film rarely carry much weight.
“Comes with the territory. But look, these conversations that happen before people see the film – they’re always irrelevant, because no one having them knows what the film actually is yet.”
Nolan compared the experience with the reaction he encountered while developing his Batman trilogy.
“When I came on to Batman Begins, writers and artists had been working on this beloved character for almost 65 years, and a lot of freighted thoughts were out there about what he represents,” he said.
“And what I learnt over my time on that trilogy is you can’t worry about any of that at all. What you have to do is honour the original text by interpreting it in the strongest way you personally can.”
The filmmaker also recalled the criticism surrounding Heath Ledger’s casting as the Joker before the release of The Dark Knight.
Ledger’s performance was later widely acclaimed and earned him a posthumous Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
“In the end, fans of the property – even when we were doing something that was not what they would have done – enjoyed the sincerity of the attempt to put as good a version of it on screen as we could,” Nolan said.
“So, when it comes to The Odyssey, all I can do is make the best film I possibly can in the most sincere way. It’s very different from how anyone else would do it, but that’s what adaptation is.”
Online backlash targets Elliot Page’s casting
The Odyssey has faced criticism from some online communities throughout its production, particularly following reports that transgender actor Elliot Page had joined the cast.
Page previously worked with Nolan on the filmmaker’s 2010 science-fiction hit Inception.
For much of the backlash, Page’s role in The Odyssey had not been publicly confirmed. Despite this, several right-wing political commentators and television presenters criticised the actor’s involvement.
Newsmax presenter Rob Finnerty addressed the casting during an on-air segment in May, appearing to mistake the Greek myth for a historical account.
“The most famous warrior in all of history, not just Greek history, Achilles, is about to be played by a transgender woman in a brand new movie,” he said.
The statement contained several errors.
Page is a transgender man, rather than a transgender woman, and Achilles is a figure from Greek mythology rather than a documented historical warrior.
Page is also not playing Achilles. He has reportedly been cast as Sinon, a figure associated with the Trojan War and described in the film as a cousin of Odysseus.
Nolan’s response suggests he remains unconcerned by criticism emerging before audiences have had the opportunity to see the completed adaptation.
As with his Batman films, the director said his priority is to approach the source material sincerely while creating his own interpretation of the story.
