With The Odyssey, Christopher Nolan Is Skipping Straight To “The Dark Knight”

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It’s tough to follow up a hit like Oppenheimer, but Christopher Nolan’s new film, The Odyssey, is already creating a lot of excitement. This is Nolan’s first attempt at a classic historical epic, and it’s based on Homer’s famous poem. The film boasts an incredibly impressive cast, including Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, and Zendaya.

Homer’s The Odyssey follows Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, on his challenging journey home after the Trojan War, filled with encounters with mythical creatures and fantastical events. Meanwhile, back in Ithaca, his wife Penelope and son Telemachus struggle with the difficulties of leadership while he’s away. This epic tale, featuring Greek gods and legendary monsters, promises to be a truly unique and grand cinematic experience.

Nolan’s The Odyssey Is Skipping Straight To “The Dark Knight”

Ron Phillips/Warner Bros./courtesy Everett Collection

Although we wouldn’t call it a sequel in the modern sense, The Odyssey is connected to an earlier story by Homer called The Iliad. The Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus’s trip home, but The Iliad comes first, focusing on the end of the Trojan War. While The Iliad centers on Achilles, it shares similar themes and sets the stage for events later explored in The Odyssey.

While the Iliad is primarily a direct account of war, The Odyssey is a grander, more expansive story focused on a long journey. The Iliad mainly explores how heroes are made or broken in battle, whereas The Odyssey delves into the personal struggles of one man. Though The Odyssey has a more intricate plot, it’s generally easier for most readers to enjoy. Many find it more entertaining than the Iliad, though opinions on that can vary.

If you look closely, there are surprising similarities between Homer’s famous poems and the Batman films Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Batman Begins resembles the Iliad because it focuses on a hero’s origins and a large-scale conflict—Gotham’s battle against crime mirroring the Trojan War. Meanwhile, The Dark Knight is more like the Odyssey, centering on Bruce Wayne’s internal struggles and his fight against his own darkness, which is embodied by the Joker.

While both are Batman stories, The Dark Knight is generally more immediately fun to watch than Batman Begins. This is partly because of the new characters, like Harvey Dent, and the bigger part Jim Gordon plays. Similarly, The Odyssey has a clearer love story with Odysseus and Penelope than the more understated romances in The Iliad. The Dark Knight echoes this with Rachel Dawes becoming a central figure, and Bruce Wayne grieving her loss, mirroring Odysseus’s separation from his beloved.

Considering Batman Begins as an Iliad and The Dark Knight as an Odyssey, it’s notable that Christopher Nolan seems to be focusing on the more exciting, action-packed part of the story, skipping over the initial setup and background details.

Will Christopher Nolan Make The Iliad After The Odyssey?

PA Images/INSTARimages

Christopher Nolan is planning a movie based on The Odyssey, which could open the door for a follow-up film adapting The Iliad. This Iliad movie would act as a prequel, taking place in the same world as the Odyssey story. While Nolan rarely makes sequels, he might be interested in this project because The Iliad would be a separate story with new characters and focus on war, allowing him to return to Homer’s universe again.

If Christopher Nolan doesn’t pursue the project, another director could take it on, particularly if The Odyssey proves to be a big hit in theaters. The story’s structure naturally allows for follow-up films in a way that Oppenheimer’s doesn’t.

Viewers hoping for a movie like The Odyssey when they see The Iliad might be surprised by its grim conclusion and less relatable characters. Just as it wouldn’t make sense to release The Dark Knight before Batman Begins, The Iliad wouldn’t feel like a logical follow-up to a film adaptation of The Odyssey.

It’s interesting that The Odyssey hasn’t yet been made into a large-scale, big-budget movie, giving Christopher Nolan a chance to create something completely original. The Iliad, on the other hand, was the basis for the 2004 film Troy. While a Nolan version of that story would probably be better, it would also feel a bit like a retread of familiar ground.

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2025-11-20 21:29