Every hero, god and monster in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey — and the stars who play them

Christopher Nolan is taking a huge swing with The Odyssey. Think classic Homer, but filtered through a filmmaker who loves clockwork precision and impossible odds. It is not just Odysseus- versus-the-sea; it is a whole ecosystem of kings, schemers, gods, monsters, and the people stuck in the middle. He has stacked the cast with longtime collaborators and some fun curveballs, and yes, it is his biggest ensemble to date.

The setup

Matt Damon leads as Odysseus, the king of Ithaca who survives the Trojan War and then spends years trying to get home. His path is all brains-over-brawn: outsmart the beasts, survive the storms, live with the consequences. Back in Ithaca, Penelope holds the line while suitors circle her throne, and their son Telemachus has to grow up fast under all that pressure. Along the way: divine help, deadly detours, and choices that haunt everyone.

Who is playing who

• Matt Damon — Odysseus: The strategist king trying to get back to Ithaca after the Trojan War, forced to outthink monsters and fate while reckoning with his own choices. This is Damon’s third time with Nolan after Interstellar and Oppenheimer, and this time he is at the front of Nolan’s biggest ensemble yet.
• Anne Hathaway — Penelope: Running a quieter war at home as suitors overrun the palace and push her to remarry. Hathaway also reunites with Nolan for a third time after The Dark Knight Rises and Interstellar, playing a benchmark of patience, resilience, and loyalty.
• Tom Holland — Telemachus: Grew up on stories about a father he barely remembers. With the suitors getting bolder, he has to decide whether to keep believing Odysseus will return or become the protector himself. It is a clear coming-of-age arc running parallel to his father’s voyage.
• Robert Pattinson — Antinous: The head suitor, openly gunning to marry Penelope and grab Ithaca while Odysseus is presumed dead. Ambitious, arrogant, calculated. Pattinson links back up with Nolan after Tenet.
• Benny Safdie — Agamemnon: Legendary Greek commander of the Trojan War and brother to Menelaus. Famous on the battlefield, tragic at home when he finally returns. Another Oppenheimer reunion for Nolan.
• Jon Bernthal — Menelaus: Spartan king and Helen’s husband, the spark that lit the Trojan War when she left with Paris. A close ally to Odysseus who also helps Telemachus piece together who his father really is.
• Lupita Nyong'o — Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra: A double role. As Helen, the face that launched a thousand ships; as Clytemnestra, Helen’s sister and Agamemnon’s wife, whose story takes a darker turn after his homecoming. Two different lenses on power far from the battlefield.
• Zendaya — Athena: Goddess of wisdom and strategy, the divine backstop for Odysseus. She guides, protects, and prods him to live up to what made him a legend in the first place. Another high-profile swing in a run of them for Zendaya.
• Samantha Morton — Circe: The sorceress on Aeaea who turns men into animals and forces Odysseus to rely on craft, not muscle. Morton, an Academy Award nominee, adds another commanding presence to the lineup.
• Charlize Theron — Calypso: An immortal sea nymph who rescues Odysseus and offers him comfort, safety, and even immortality if he stays. Less danger, more temptation — and one of the tale’s most emotionally tangled stops.
• Bill Irwin — Polyphemus: The Cyclops, son of Poseidon. Odysseus blinds him to escape, which solves one problem and creates a bigger one: Poseidon’s fury that drags the journey out for years. Irwin previously brought TARS to life in Interstellar.
• James Remar — Tiresias: The blind prophet in the Underworld. Not a fight, a briefing — he lays out the trials still ahead and quietly reshapes the rest of Odysseus’s path. Remar last worked with Nolan as Henry Stimson in Oppenheimer.
• Himesh Patel — Eurylochus: Odysseus’s second-in-command. Loyal, but not a yes-man; he questions the calls when the stakes are ugly, which keeps the leadership side of the story honest.
• John Leguizamo — Eumaeus: The steadfast swineherd who never stops believing. He is among the first to meet Odysseus when the king slips back onto Ithaca in secret, and that loyalty helps put the house back in order. Leguizamo brings the warmth this character needs.
• Elliot Page — Sinon: Not in Homer’s original poem, but key to the larger Trojan War myth. He is the Greek who tricks Troy into accepting the Wooden Horse. Page reunites with Nolan for the first time since Inception.
• Corey Hawkins — Polybus: Another suitor, often aligned with Antinous. He is part of the slow-burn threat growing inside Ithaca while its king is stuck at sea.
• Mia Goth — Melantho: A maid in Penelope’s court who flips sides, secretly tied to Antinous. Her betrayal underlines how frayed loyalty has become in the palace.
• Logan Marshall-Green — Melanthius: He mocks Odysseus when the king returns disguised as a beggar and throws in with the wrong side. It does not end well for him.
• Travis Scott — Bard: The most unexpected casting. He plays a storyteller — the kind who keeps history alive through spoken word and song — and also contributes the original end-credits track "When I’m Home." A modern music nod to the saga’s oral roots.

The Odyssey opens in theaters July 17.