First Look at Tom Holland and Anne Hathaway in The Odyssey Reveals Their Onscreen Chemistry
First-look images from Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey thrust Tom Holland into battle as Telemachus and unveil Anne Hathaway as a resolute Penelope, teasing an epic already thundering with heartbreak and hope before a single word is spoken.
Christopher Nolan has finally uncorked first-look photos from his The Odyssey, and they do a lot of the talking for him. We get Tom Holland suited up as Telemachus and Anne Hathaway holding steady as Penelope — a small preview that reads as both mythic and surprisingly intimate. Empire shared the new shots, and if you were wondering what Nolan-in-ancient-Greece looks like, it’s very much steel, splinters, and emotion.
The first look: Penelope, Telemachus, and a promise of real emotion
Holland shows up in full warrior mode as Odysseus’s son, the kid who grows up fast while waiting for a father who might never come home. Hathaway slides into Penelope, the wife who keeps the kingdom and her sanity together across years of silence — and no, before anyone ships anything weird, their dynamic is purely mother and son. That bond is poised to be one of the film’s emotional anchors.
There’s also a first look at Mia Goth, who plays Melantho. If you know the poem, that name rings a bell for messy reasons; if you don’t, just know she’s part of the complicated web in Ithaca while Odysseus is away.
Stylistically, the images lean hard into tactile realism. Holland’s kitted out in battered Greek armor and amulets, the kind of detail that says Nolan’s team isn’t chasing a glossy fantasy vibe — they want this world to feel lived-in and heavy.
So what story is Nolan actually telling?
Nolan’s version tracks closely with Homer’s blueprint: Odysseus fighting like hell to get back to Ithaca after the Trojan War. Expect the greatest hits of Greek-myth chaos on the road home: a run-in with the Cyclops Polyphemus, the dangerously irresistible Sirens, and the timeline-tangling enchantress Circe. Overhead, the gods meddle — Athena lending a hand, Poseidon throwing storms, and Zeus doing Zeus things.
Meanwhile, back in Ithaca, Penelope and Telemachus keep the island together, waiting and hoping. That quiet, human heartbeat is the counterweight to all the monsters and shipwrecks.
Why Nolan said yes this time
Fun bit of context: Nolan once passed on directing Troy because it just didn’t click for him. Odysseus, though, is a different beast — the character’s brain-over-brawn approach is right in his wheelhouse. As he put it:
"The genius of the character, the cleverness, the inventiveness of him, that was a huge part of what interested me. He’s not just a soldier. He’s an amazing strategist, a very wily person."
The big wooden flex
Yes, the Trojan Horse will be in the movie, and in very Nolan fashion, the production reportedly built the thing for real. No shortcuts. Just a massive wooden marvel you can practically get a splinter from by looking at it.
What you need to know
- Title: The Odyssey
- Director: Christopher Nolan
- Cast: Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Jon Bernthal, Anne Hathaway, Benny Safdie (plus Mia Goth as Melantho; Hathaway is Penelope; Holland is Telemachus)
- Release date: July 17, 2026
- Release: In theaters
Between the grounded visuals and the mother-son focus, it looks like Nolan’s aiming for something intimate and enormous at the same time. Based on these first images, he might actually pull it off.