The Odyssey Translator Hated Nolan’s Movie - But She Wants This Spin-Off

While many fans who flocked to the cinema to see Christopher Nolan’s latest spectacle, The Odyssey, left feeling awed and invigorated, not everyone shared the sentiment.

Classicist Emily Wilson, who is well regarded for her masterful 2017 translation of Homer’s epic poem Odyssey from ancient Greek into English, wrote a rather unfavourable review in the London Review of Books that sparked quite the furore online.

Since her original review was published, she has doubled down on her opinion, and added some new thoughts on social media about The Odyssey —including a surprising suggestion for a spinoff.

What Did Emily Wilson Say About Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey?

Throughout the press tour for The Odyssey, Christopher Nolan cited Emily Wilson’s 2017 translation of Homer’s 2,700-year-old poem — especially its first line, “tell me about a complicated man” — as a key source of inspiration.

However, after the film’s release, Wilson wrote a review for the London Review of Books that heavily criticised Nolan’s interpretation. Pointedly titled ‘An Uncomplicated Man’, Wilson’s review targets aspects from the original story that were missing from the film, especially regarding Odysseus’ character as a cunning, witty, egotistical, and charmingly complex man.

In a post on Bluesky elaborating her point, Wilson writes, “The film centers Odysseus' guilt over his war crimes, but never shows us the POV of his victims, and instead glorifies the perpetrator for feeling bad about himself. I found this unsatisfying ethically and worse, imaginatively, because Damon's character is given only one mood (Troubled)”.

While I won’t get into Wilson’s full review here, I’ll summarise it by saying that her overarching complaint about Nolan’s version of Odyssey is that it “lacks psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth”. Ouch!

Robert Pattinson Was the One Major Exception

Although Wilson’s piece was scathing, not everything was a shambles for her in Nolan’s film. In her review, she praised Robert Pattinson’s performance as Antinous, the nastiest of all the suitors, writing, “he is the only person on set who seems to be having any fun”, and that while he “clearly deserves to be stabbed to death with the dagger of Sinon, he also deserves one of the Oscars that will shower down on this movie like the golden rain of Zeus”.

In her addendum on Bluesky, Wilson went on to make a surprising suggestion for the character’s on-screen future, writing, “If anyone ever wants to make a spin-off TV series with Antinous risen from the dead to mess with other mythical households, I would be so there for it.”

While her post is no doubt meant to be tongue-in-cheek, the idea of creating an Antinous-based spin-off is fun to think about. Sadly, there has been no confirmation of any follow-up films or series to The Odyssey, but a classicist can dream!

Why Antinous Feels More Alive Than Odysseus

While we might not be getting an Antinous spin-off anytime soon, the character is no doubt compelling — and far more so than Matt Damon’s Odysseus.

In her review Emily Wilson calls Robert Pattinson’s Antinous “charismatically slimy” and “exuberantly villainous.” While those adjectives provoke a notably visceral reaction, that’s kind of the point: He is a living, breathing, embodied character.

Take, for example, the conversation between Antinous and Penelope, after he discovers she’s been deceiving the suitors by secretly destroying the tapestry she said she would finish before picking a new husband. In the film, Antinous uses this moment to skillfully destabilise Penelope, weaving his own tapestry of lies about his love for her, telling her everything she’s been longing to hear during those long, lonely years of waiting. He also plays into her darkest doubts by telling her that Odysseus will never return, and pressuring her to choose a new husband now rather than wait for the island to fall further into ruin. A true master manipulator.

But all of that manipulative skill doesn’t translate well to hand-to-hand combat, as demonstrated in the final battle between the suitors and Odysseus. After Odysseus strings the bow and begins his bloody purge of the suitors, Antinous cowardly retreats to the back while getting the others to do the fighting for him. All of that swagger he projected while bullying Telemachus and throwing chairs at beggars disappears like smoke.

While these incidents are displays of incredibly odious behaviour, we get a real sense for Antinous as a character. Repellent? Yes. Manipulative? Yes. Interesting? Absolutely.

Like him or not, there’s no doubt that Antinous is one of the most well-rounded characters in The Odyssey.

Antinous May Be the “Complicated Man” Wilson Wanted

It’s clear that Emily Wilson was, to put it lightly, underwhelmed by Matt Damon’s Odysseus. In her review, she describes him as “neither a master storyteller nor a flirt”, and, most devastatingly, not “complicated or wily or artful”.

The Odysseus of Homer’s epic is nothing if not complicated. From tricking the Cyclops into believing his name is “Nobody” to sleeping with multiple goddesses for years on end, Homer’s Odysseus is simultaneously a hero and a man of inflated ego and appetites. His contradictions are what make him both sympathetic and interesting.

While these qualities might be missing from Nolan’s vision of Odysseus, Antinous emerges as a kind of counter — and perhaps unintentionally winds up embodying some of the core characteristics of Homer’s Odysseus. Wilson’s point is not that Antinous should be seen as the hero of the story, but that the character inhabits much of the complexity that she found lacking in Nolan’s take. Both Odysseus and Antinous are characters of mischief, cunning, and contradiction — ”complicated men”, if you will.

Robert Pattinson Movies That Prove an Antinous Spin-Off Could Work

While an Odyssey spin-off featuring a revived Antinous seems unlikely, if anyone can pull it off, it’s Robert Pattinson.

While Pattinson started out as the sulky vampire Edward Cullen in the Twilight saga, he’s since made it very clear that he is not just a pretty face, but also one of the most talented actors of his generation. From starring in fast-paced indie thrillers like the Safdie brothers’ Good Time, bonkers arthouse films like The Lighthouse, and dark comedies like The Drama — not to mention Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17, where he plays a bunch of clones with different personalities — Pattinson has proved that he is a highly versatile leading man.

Pattinson also has what it takes to lead a mainstream franchise, as demonstrated through his role as Batman/Bruce Wayne in Matt Reeves’ critically-acclaimed The Batman. While we may never see a spin-off of The Odyssey, I know Emily Wilson wouldn’t be the only one buying front row tickets to see Robert Pattinson’s performance as a truly complicated man.