Before The Odyssey reaches theatres, Christopher Nolan is already facing intense online scrutiny. The director has now addressed the conversation surrounding his ambitious retelling of Homer's epic, saying that criticism before a film's release carries little weight because viewers have not yet experienced the final work.

Speaking about the ongoing debate, Nolan said, "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."

Much of the discussion has centred on the film's use of modern dialogue and American accents, choices that surprised fans expecting a more traditional historical epic. Nolan, however, believes the decision is true to the spirit of Homer's original work rather than a departure from it.

Reflecting on lessons from directing the Dark Knight trilogy, he explained that filmmakers cannot create stories by responding to every public opinion. Instead, the focus has to remain on delivering the strongest possible interpretation of the source material.

"I spent 10 years of my life dealing with Batman," Nolan said, adding, "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. 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."

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He also pointed to the initial backlash over casting Heath Ledger as the Joker, a performance that eventually earned the late actor a posthumous Academy Award. For Nolan, that experience reinforced the idea that audiences often respond to sincerity, even when creative choices challenge expectations.

"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."

That philosophy continues to shape The Odyssey.

"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."

Nolan also defended the film's contemporary style, explaining that Homer's poem is more grounded than many modern interpretations suggest.

"When you look at the ancient world, people tend to view the ancient world in weird ways and there's a lot of cultural prejudice, elevating it just because it's old," he said, adding, "When you go to the poem, what you find is something that's really earthy, grounded and accessible. So, for me, in building the world of the film, what I talk to all the actors about is, I want to center it on that and make it feel very fresh for modern audiences and do away with some of those assumptions."

The Odyssey stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, alongside Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong'o, Robert Pattinson, Jon Bernthal, Charlize Theron, Travis Scott and Elliot Page. The film is set to release in theatres on July 17.