EXCLUSIVE: Christopher Nolan further explains the metatextual implications of a surprising casting choice in his adaptation of the Greek myth.
Published Jul 8, 2026, 4:03 PM EDT
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Christopher Nolan is getting metatextual about epic poetry in his upcoming movie, expected to be the cinematic event of the summer.
Following his Best Picture winner Oppenheimer, which released theatrically in 2023, Nolan's next film is The Odyssey. Hitting theaters in less than two weeks, The Odyssey is an adaptation of Homer's poem of the same name, a pillar of Greek mythology. The trailers have hinted at some changes Nolan is making to the narrative — including casting a rapper as a bard who has no strict counterpart in the source material.
In an interview with ScreenRant's Liam Crowley, Nolan commented on casting Travis Scott as a new character who is a bard in The Odyssey. "Well, to me, the idea of oral formulaic poetry," says Nolan, "that feeling to most academics for the last hundred years or so, that's the basis on which these things were handed down. And it's such an important part of the film."
His comments suggest that the oral tradition of ancient poetry may appear in the movie, perhaps with Scott's bard serving as a framing device, telling the story of Odysseus (Matt Damon) some years later. "I'd worked with Travis before, and it felt very apt to have a rapper playing a bard in that way," Nolan adds. The director has stated elsewhere that he sees rap as a kind of poetry.
Having been active as a rapper, singer, and songwriter since 2008, Scott has accumulated 10 Grammy nominations, as well as five number-one Billboard hits and several major award wins. Though his acting credits are primarily his own music videos, he collaborated with composer Ludwig Göransson on the song "The Plan" for the soundtrack of Nolan's Tenet.
Much speculation has surrounded the cast of The Odyssey, as the cast list was announced long before any of the actors' characters were explicitly confirmed. Scott began appearing in The Odyssey's marketing campaign in early 2026, while the roles played by Lupita Nyong'o and Elliot Page were also long kept under wraps.
The Odyssey also stars Anne Hathaway as Odysseus' wife Penelope, Tom Holland as their son Telemachus, Zendaya as the goddess Athena, among an impressively expansive A-list cast. But it is arguably Christopher Nolan himself who is drawing people to The Odyssey rather than any of the actors, with his sweeping filmmaking style promising to be a perfect match to this story.
The Odyssey is tracking to open to as much as $100 million domestically, with it expected to be a massive box office success in worldwide. First reactions to The Odyssey are enthusiastic, with Crowley calling it "an absolute redefinition of the word epic and a new gold standard for blockbuster cinema." However, general audiences have yet to see how exactly Nolan redefines the story as it relates to the very essence of storytelling.
The Odyssey releases theatrically on July 17, 2026.