With Christopher Nolan's retelling of Homer’s The Odyssey set to debut in theaters on July 17, 2026, we're learning more about the star-studded cast that will help tell his story. As always, we’re here to break down who will be part of the film.
Matt Damon stars as Odysseus, and after the first teaser trailer for The Odyssey and then the second full trailer, we have even more info on the cast, including Tom Holland's Telemachus, Jon Bernthal's King Menelaus, Charlize Theron's Calypso, and even Odysseus' beloved, faithful dog, Argos! Plus there are the actors we know are in the film and have heard rumors about, but haven't gotten confirmation on who they're playing yet, like Elliot Page (as Achilles?), Lupita Nyong’o (as Helen of Troy?), and more. Oh, and then don't forget the monsters either! Plenty of monsters to look forward to in this one.
You can check out our list of The Odyssey’s cast and characters below, and be sure to check back often as we will be updating this list as more details are revealed! You can also read our take on why Nolan is actually the perfect guy to make an Odyssey movie or why it's OK everyone sounds like they're speaking modern "American" in the film.
The Odyssey Cast and Characters
Matt Damon as Odysseus
Matt Damon stars in Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey, playing Odysseus himself. Damon’s name was the first to appear when word of this project surfaced, and his appearance in The Odyssey will mark the third time the Academy Award-winning actor has worked with Nolan following Interstellar and Oppenheimer. Odysseus, of course, is the Greek king of Ithaca who has been absent from his home for 20 years, having spent the first 10 years fighting (and winning via Trojan Horse) the Trojan War, and the latter 10 years trying and failing — after landing on the bad side of the god Poseidon — to get back home.
Tom Holland as Telemachus
Tom Holland, Spider-Man himself, plays Odysseus’ son Telemachus. Telemachus never knew his father, who has been gone since he was a baby, and as he transitions into manhood he is confronted by the suitors — the various men of Ithaca and the surrounding area who are vying to marry Telemachus' mother, Penelope, and inherit Odysseus' land, home, posessions, and fortune. One of the lead suitors in the film is Robert Pattinson's Antinous.
Anne Hathaway as Penelope
Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway is another member of this cast who has worked with Nolan more than once, as she starred in both The Dark Knight Rises and Interstellar. Here she plays Odysseus' long-suffering wife Penelope, who doesn't know what happened to her husband after he left for Troy 20 years ago, but now must contend with the suitors who want to marry her… and perhaps want even more to supplant Odysseus as the ruler of Ithaca. Penelope attempts to keep the suitors at bay but is running out of options when the story starts.
Robert Pattinson as Antinous
Robert Pattinson, who starred alongside John David Washington in Nolan’s Tenet, plays the chief suitor, Antinous. As the second trailer indicates, Antinous has it out for Telemachus, who he sees as standing in his way to getting to Penelope — and Odysseus' inheritance. Too bad for Antinous that Odysseus is far from dead…
Charlize Theron as Calypso
Charlize Theron is another Oscar-winning addition to the cast of The Odyssey. She plays Calypso, the nymph who forces Odysseus to live with her on the island of Ogygia for seven years. If he stays, she will give him immortality, but he is driven to return to his family back on Ithaca.
Jon Bernthal as Menelaus
Jon Bernthal won’t only be appearing alongside Tom Holland as The Punisher in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but he's also playing Menelaus in Nolan's film. The character is the brother of Agamemnon — the leader of all the Greeks — and the king of Sparta, and he also happens to be one of reasons the Trojan War happened in the first place, as the Greeks set out to attack Troy after Menelaus' wife Helen was kidnapped/made off with Paris, one of the princes of Troy. Bad idea.
Lupita Nyong’o (rumored to be playing Helen of Troy)
Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o of Black Panther, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, 12 Years a Slave, and Us fame is rumored to be playing Helen of Troy in The Odyssey. As noted, Helen's leaving Menelaus for Troy — whether it was by choice or by force varies depending on the version of the tale being told — is the event that sparks the Trojan War. She appears briefly in The Odyssey when Telemachus visits her and Menelaus while trying to find out any new information about what might have happened to his father in the years since the war.
Zendaya as Athena
Zendaya, who also appeared in the Spider-Man films as MJ and is engaged to Tom Holland, will appear in The Odyssey as Athena. (There is the potential for something pretty meta to happen in the Odyssey since there are moments in Homer’s epic where the character is disguised as Telemachus, who Holland is playing.) Athena is one of the gods who is featured in The Odyssey, and she has a particular interest in Odysseus' well-being, watching over him and helping him whenever she can.
Benny Safdie as Agamemnon
Although it's a bit hard to make him out under that helmet in the trailers, THR says that actor-director Benny Safdie will play Agamemnon in The Odyssey. Safdie has previously worked with Nolan, as he starred as physicist Edward Teller in Oppenheimer. As noted above, Agamemnon is the brother of Menelaus and the leader of the various Greek factions in Troy. He also faces an unhappy homecoming after the war, with the story of what happened to his family paralleling that of Odysseus in a skewed way. And Odysseus winds up meeting his spirit in the Underworld at one point. Like we said, it was an uhappy homecoming for him!
John Leguizamo as Eumaeus the Swineherd
Oh my swineherd! John Leguizamo, known for his work in Moulin Rogue!, Romeo + Juliet, Encanto, Ice Age, and so much more, plays Odysseus' faithful servant Eumaeus the swineherd. When Odysseus returns to Ithaca, he can trust very few people, but Eumaeus is there for him — bet on it!
Elliot Page (rumored to be playing Achilles)
We know Elliot Page (Inception, Juno, The Umbrella Academy, Close to You) is in The Odyssey, and the trailer might've given away who the actor is playing: Achilles, the tragic hero from The Iliad who Odysseus encounters in the Underworld as a ghost (as he does Agamemnon). While this isn't confirmed yet to be the character Page is playing, it seems like a good bet.
Argos
Odysseus' faithful dog Argos, who was a pup when our hero left for the war, has waited for his master for the 20 years since. Their reunion is one of the most effective scenes in The Odyssey, and Nolan couldn't help but include it in his film version too. "It is one of the greatest moments in the story," Nolan recently told Stephen Colbert. "It's really one of the things that hooked me."
Polyphemus the Cyclops
Perhaps one of the best-known characters in The Odyssey, Polyphemus is the Cyclops who dines on many of Odysseus' men. Look, he's holding one right there in this photo, ready to plop him in his mouth like an appetizer! As the son of Poseidon, it is Odysseus' run-in with the Cyclops that earns the hero the wrath of the sea god.
The Laestrygonians
The Laestrygonians are man-eaters, like in the Hall & Oates song, only much worse. They're also giants, so it seems the main difference between them and the Cyclops is in number of eyes? Anyway, this depiction of them dressed in armor seems to diverge from the more savage-like appearance that they are typically associated with, but in any case, they're gonna mess up Odysseus' fleet — and men — big time.
Charybdis
Speaking of messing up Odysseus' mean, Charybdis and Scylla are sea monsters that work in conjunction with one another. As seen here, it looks like the Charybdis in Nolan's film is being depicted as more whirlpool than sea-monster-that-causes-whirlpools… though of course, we'll have to wait for the final film to find out for sure.
Other The Odyssey Cast Members
- Himesh Patel (Yesterday, Station Eleven, and The Franchise)
- Bill Irwin (Voice of TARS in Interstellar, Rustin, and Third Rock from the Sun)
- Samantha Morton (The Serpent Queen, The Entertainment System Is Down, and In America)
- Mia Goth (MaXXXIne)
- Corey Hawkins (The Color Purple, BlackKklansman, and The Walking Dead)
- Jesse Garcia (The Mother and Flamin’ Hot)
- Will Yun Lee (San Andreas and The Good Doctor)
- Rafi Gavron (A Star Is Born and Breaking and Entering)
- Shiloh Fernandez (Evil Dead and Deadgirl)
- Nick Tarabay (Spartacus and The Expanse)
- Jimmy Gonzales (Busboys and Mayans M.C)
- Maurice Compte (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Mayans M.C.)
- Michael Vlamis (Roswell, New Mexico)
- Iddo Goldberg (Snowpiercer)
- Logan Marshall-Green (Prometheus)
- Ryan Hurst (Sons of Anarchy and The Walking Dead)
Other cast members via THR, Variety, and Deadline.
Other The Odyssey Characters Whose Casting We're Still Waiting to Hear About
- Circe, a witch who transforms Odysseus' men into pigs
- Poseidon, god of the sea and tormentor of Odysseus
- Laertes, Odysseus' aging father
This story originally ran on July 2, 2025. It was updated on May 7, 2026, with the most recent information we have about The Odyssey.
Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst, Instagram, and TikTok, and listen to his show, Talking Disney Magic.
Talk to Scott Collura @scottcollura.bsky.social, or listen to his Star Trek podcast, Transporter Room 3. Or do both!
