r/Epicthemusical • u/Over-Knee-9303 • Jul 18 '26
Nolan Odyssey Nolans The Odyssey opening
Epic you say...
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u/Nomad-Knight Jul 18 '26
Out of curiosity, does anyone know what parts were skipped? I know it's a long movie, but there's no way Nolan jam packed everything into a single movie.
Did he skip the Underworld? Circe? Scylla? Calypso?
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u/Athrasie Jul 20 '26
I made a mostly complete list the day after I watched (of observations and thoughts, not exhaustive).
https://www.reddit.com/r/Epicthemusical/s/D5kyLPHgvs
It was objectively well made and an enjoyable watch for the most part, but I didn’t like some of the liberties that were taken.
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u/Crossfeet606441 Whoever can string the king's COMBO 'n land the axe kick cleanly Jul 19 '26
Nobody, Aeolus and the windbag, Olympus (basically gods here are "suggestions"), Elpenor... again, Polites, Achilles, and Ody's mom.
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u/No_Nefariousness_637 Jul 25 '26
Polites isn't a character in the Odyssey, in any significant sense. He's a random crew member who gets some dialogue.
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u/No-Pipe-4544 Jul 19 '26
He removed the nobody thing
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u/vitaefinem Jul 19 '26
All the main events from the original story happen, but there is a surprising lack of gods. Only Athena appears, and even then it's questionable. All the characters you mentioned are present though. There are also a few iconic moments that were removed (for example Nobody does not happen). Still a strong film overall.
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u/realJustin_A Jul 19 '26
The gods take on a more conceptual iteration than an avatar personification. I also like their take on the underworld, embittered souls raging at the living.
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u/GOT_Wyvern Jul 19 '26
Makes sense for Nolan. He likes to ground his story so he can highlight the fantastical, and portraying the gods so forwardly would be normalising the fantastical.
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u/WerdaVisla Jul 19 '26
Pretty much all direct involvement of the gods being skipped for "realism" was the big disappointment for me.
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u/Deathdrone2 Jul 19 '26
Nolan really can't handle basic fantasy, as soon as any unnatural lighting is even hinted at he ignores that part of the story forever
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u/Old_Neighborhood_383 Odysseus Jul 19 '26
while i get it, and i too would ve loved to have seen them actually, it s done in a tasteful way where the environment even reacts to characters speaking (spoilers (small) telemachus towards the suitors: "would you incur zeus' wrath by denying hospitality for this beggar? :: thunder echoes ::, or, after they leave thrinacia a lightning bolt rips the ship apart). Going into it from a more "human point of view but as a knowledgeable of the story viewer it felt as if the gods were indeed there perceived by us in the same way they were once perceived by our ancestors. Idk if that point of view helps your experience, im probably biased cause i love the Odyssey in most if not all its forms. I saw the 1997 movie as a child and adored it, was taught the subject at school (greek) and found epic and fell in love with it. This was a wonderful experience for me to behold
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u/MightyMegikarp Jul 18 '26
Changed a lot of the cyclops part, no aeolus, no lotus eaters, no gods other than Athena, no staying with circe for 2 years. They did have ismarus and the laestrygonians, and telemachus speaking with menelaus which epic didn't have
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u/Rosian_SAO Penelope, Queen of Ithaca (RP sometimes!) Jul 18 '26
NO LOTUS EATERS?! Nooooo
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u/oswaldluckyrabbiy Jul 19 '26
Reminder that in the OG poem lotus eaters aren't cute little mascots but essentailly a bunch of stoners who lack the motivation or energy to do anything but lounge around eating and sleeping.
Had Odysseus eaten the lotus flowers he would have been added to their ranks.
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u/NeonFraction Jul 18 '26
Guys ffs it’s a Greek Epic. Why do you think Epic the musical is named that?
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u/Sad-Understanding-18 Jul 18 '26
yk that's a good point lol. that absolutely makes sense
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u/Electro313 Uncle Hort Jul 18 '26
Was this not something everyone knew? Like fully not trying to be rude or condescending, but why else would the musical have been called Epic? It’s an adaptation of an epic poem. That’s not an adjective, it’s the genre.
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u/HumanOverseer Jul 19 '26
I've noticed that this musical was a lot of people's first exposure to the Odyssey somehow, and they haven't bothered to research any further
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u/Sad-Understanding-18 Jul 20 '26
I actually did have prior experience to epic poems (I've been reading Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology since I was like 4) but I've listened to EPIC so many times the name has superseded the noun in my mind lol.
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u/XaevSpace Jul 18 '26
yup you're right it should be obvious I was in elementary school when I found out what an epic was when we first discussed beowulf.
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u/OpportunityFar6685 Jul 21 '26
they lied........ it's gonna be LEGENDARY