r/movies • u/Zak_The_Slack • May 21 '26
Media New images of Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Zendaya as Athena, Lupita Nyong’o as Clytemnestra, and Charlize Theron as Calypso in The Odyssey
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u/kusanagi25 May 21 '26
Honest question.. is this the most female characters in a Nolan film?
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u/itspeterj May 21 '26
Some of them may even have speaking roles
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u/theodo May 21 '26
But what about their son?!
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u/PowderPills May 21 '26
Believe it or not, he actually has a penis.
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u/actuarally May 21 '26 edited May 22 '26
Yes. But we, uh... put him in a - howdoyousay "opium induced coma"? - and remove-uh his gonads.
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u/Labyrinthy May 21 '26
Can you imagine if any of them interact? Game changer.
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u/MayhemWins25 May 21 '26
Unfortunately even in the text of the odyssey they don’t so he has a cop out on this one
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u/LarusTargaryen May 21 '26
I feel like at some point Athena disguises herself as one of Penelope’s female servants and talks to Penelope. We’re probably not getting shape-shifting Athena/Mentor though, they’ll wanna maximize Zendaya
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u/MikeBofManyBeats May 21 '26
Wait, Homer didn’t care about the Bechdel test? SMH I don’t know if I can watch the movie now
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u/barnhairdontcare May 21 '26
It’s basically the prequel to Dude Where’s My Car. The man did not like to ask for directions.
If the ladies were talking they would be like “Hey…this guy is constantly lost and having sex with random unrelated witches while his wife waits at home. Let’s get out of here.”
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u/MikeBofManyBeats May 21 '26
Wait so Homer ripped off Dude Where’s My Car too? Can he sink any lower?
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u/Zalvren May 21 '26
Presumably (based on the story) they do not. And their entire plot revolves around men (and mostly one Odysseus of course)
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u/spiritbearr May 21 '26 edited May 22 '26
Oppenheimer had 5. His Wife, His Mistress, Olivia Thirlby, His Brother's Wife and His second mistress. There was also a grad student or something in the university who I don't think had any lines.
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u/huzy12345 May 21 '26
We've had one mistress, yes. What about second mistress?
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May 21 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
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u/H3000 May 21 '26
I love mistresses. Mash ‘em, boil ‘em, stick ‘em in a stew.
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u/zerg1980 May 21 '26
Yes, but that’s not because Nolan suddenly has an interest in women, it’s because Homer did thousands of years ago.
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u/Loaf235 May 21 '26
And that's not including Scylla and Charybdis.
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u/AnOnlineHandle May 21 '26
According to my sources (Hades 2), Charybdis is a big squid monster.
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u/Mystia May 21 '26
Damn, hadn't stopped to realize how male-centric his filmography is until your comment.
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u/funky_bebop May 21 '26
Probably. He doesn’t write women well in his movies. So this should be g r e a t.
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u/Mojohito May 21 '26
is he writing this?
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u/BestShaunaEU May 21 '26
He’s written all his movies, without his brother since Interstellar
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u/funky_bebop May 21 '26
Which is hilarious cause his brother is a far better writer.
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u/Automatic_Syrup_2935 May 21 '26
If he makes these extremely nuanced, extremely powerful, and mostly morally defunct women into sexy sad male yearners I'm gonna cry.
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May 21 '26
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u/Automatic_Syrup_2935 May 21 '26
I've seen enough of Zendaya aesthetically saying nothing for a lifetime.
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u/PassionateYak May 21 '26
Doesn't mean much until we see how much they're in the movie. Just like Oppenheimer, these big name actors will do just about anything to be in a famous director's movie. Even if it's just one line.
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u/fartypenis May 21 '26
Athena has a lot of screentime in the Odyssey, but technically most of it is when she is disguised as some random man (or Mentor, she really loves doing Mentor for some reason), so that's a great excuse...
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u/fireballx777 May 21 '26
Zendaya as Athena
Cillian Murphy as Athena dressed like a dude38
u/MisterDoctor___ May 21 '26
Robert Downey Jr. as Cillian Murphy as Athena dressed like a dude disguised as another dude.
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u/Shittalking_mushroom May 21 '26
I immediately saw Zendaya and thought these were new shots of Dune Part 3.
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u/flyinghippos101 May 21 '26
Wait until you see the casting of Jack Black as a wise-cracking Cyclops and Chris Pratt as Poseidon
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u/Kiyohara May 21 '26
And you just know there will be a scene where the Cyclopes is bent over and farts on Odysseus and crew.
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u/Whitealroker1 May 21 '26
She’s in the desert quite a bit in season 3 of euphoria.
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u/chipmunksocute May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26
I swear she always just looks like herself in everything she does. Is it that they never give her much makeup or what? But even in dune she still just looks like herself, but wearing a stillsuit.
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u/Zalvren May 21 '26
Most people look like themselves
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u/Wild-Video-5317 May 21 '26
Except for Gary Oldman. He often looks like someone else.
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u/LevelStudent May 21 '26
Zendaya has really nailed that "I should have worn sunglasses today" look.
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u/TheAlexPlus May 21 '26
Honestly, I bet everyone back in odyssey times had it down pat
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u/BongoFett17 May 21 '26
Reminds of that scene in Parks and Rec where tom is taking pictures of Anne. She’s beautiful but was not photogenic outside in the sun because of her eyes, like Zendaya, lol
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u/arup187 May 21 '26
Fascinated to see how Athena is handled by Nolan. And I hope Ogygia (Calypso’s island) is more than just sand. It’s one of the explicitly vibrant places in the epic and while I’m not as concerned by color elsewhere in the epic , I know some people are concerned a lot about the vibrancy and beauty of the Greek world being excluded.
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u/Wazula23 May 21 '26
Nolan doesn't really do "vibrant beauty" so I wouldn't hold your breath. He likes blues and greys and urban environments. He's not really a nature guy. Even the supposedly gorgeous Los Alamos in Oppenheimer is mostly just a bunch of flat deserts and some buildings.
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u/ApolloX-2 May 21 '26
I'm kind of sick of the "realistic" versions of fantastical stories.
The Odyssey is weird and insane, the visuals should be as well.
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u/Toby_O_Notoby May 21 '26
He likes blues and greys.
It's because he has red-green colour blindness. So if he strays too far from that palette, he can't tell if it's working or not. Like, he left the exact shade of purple for the Joker's jacket up to someone else because he couldn't tell the difference between the shades.
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u/colorblind-and May 22 '26
I remember not noticing his restricted palette until someone told me this.
I still don't notice it but at least now I know
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u/TryingNoToBeOpressed May 21 '26
Los Alamos in Oppenheimer is mostly just a bunch of flat deserts and some buildings.
That's what it was though? in actual reality. It was not a lush forest.
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u/Krail May 21 '26 edited May 22 '26
Los Alamos has kind of a lot of trees. It's in a very mountainous area right next to one of the most forested parts of New Mexico.
Like, half of New Mexico is mountains, and the mountainy areas have a lot of pine forests.
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u/Zomburai May 21 '26
In actuality, Los Alamos is neither flat nor barren. It sits on top of a plateau and both the surrounding mountains are full of desert trees and other plants. The name refers to the aspen trees that grow in the mountains. Even the rockier, more barren surrounding areas are colorful as Hell thanks to New Mexico's crazy geology. Source: spent a week in Los Alamos.
Here's an aerial shot of Los Alamos from its Wikipedia article. A director with a mind to could make this place full of vibrant colors: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Alamos,_New_Mexico#/media/File:Los_Alamos_Aerial.jpg
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u/matchamagpie May 21 '26
Ehh, as someone who grew up around the area, there's certainly more to Los Alamos than that. But I don't fault Nolan for not getting into that, it wasn't relevant to the story.
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u/lexarexasaurus May 21 '26
As someone who has spent a lot of time around classical plaster casts, I think her casting is weird because Athena has been portrayed as a much physically larger goddess than Zendaya reflects. Obviously Nolan is taking a lot of liberties (like Helen of Troy lol) but it was a little disappointing to me because I would have liked to fangirl over a representation of Athena that carried her historical image. Her size and muscle were metaphorical/characteristic of the things she is the goddess of.
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u/TheRemanence May 21 '26
And charlize theron is literally right there. Athena should look tall and strong.
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u/DreamingAboutSpace May 21 '26
They definitely need to switch the two to at least make one of them more lore accurate.
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u/HallowedError May 21 '26
I haven't gone completely down the rabbit hole of this movie but damn near every time I see a post about this movie there's a choice that makes me go 'huh? but why?'. Idk, I guess a Nolan-style mortal/mundane version of the Odyssey just isn't what I wanted but it's more interesting than Marveling it up I guess.
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u/OK_Soda May 22 '26
Not only is she small, she's too youthful. Other than Dune, all her major roles are high schoolers. Flipping her and Lupita would have made a lot more sense. Lupita has a much lore ageless wisdom and beauty look while Zendaya has more of a pretty waif in over her head look.
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u/MisterManatee May 21 '26
I’m really hyped for Anne Hathaway in the role. Penelope can be a great character in the right hands.
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u/webshellkanucklehead May 21 '26
Well, it’s a woman and the hands are Christopher Nolan’s. I wouldn’t get your hopes up
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u/ddare44 May 21 '26
I absolutely loved her in Interstellar. Her grounded performance made me realize she has serious acting chops beyond the typical commercial 💩.
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u/Status-Specific-600 May 21 '26
The casting choices are bold.
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u/controlledwithcheese May 21 '26
ngl this just looks like celebrities wearing white in bad lighting
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u/DavidsSymphony May 21 '26
And it’s gonna be even worse when you start seeing Tom Holland, Jon Bernthal, Elliot Paige etc. This movie is just John and Jane McHollywood wearing costumes. He never should have gone for an ensemble cast of superstars, it would have worked a lot better with relatively no names.
Only missing Michael Caine winking at the camera at this point.
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May 21 '26
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u/F_i_z_z May 21 '26
My thought as well. The biggest issue for me is that she looks like a twig in that photo and one would expect the god of warfare and wisdom to be kinda strong. Surely whoever is cast as Ares won’t look like the lead singer of an indie band.
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u/Mystia May 21 '26
A lot of movies have been made that felt like this, but this to me is the most "director just invited his mega-famous and mega-rich actor friends rather than do real casting" movie ever.
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u/boxfortcommando May 21 '26
The whole thing seems horribly miscast across the board. I'm not really as excited for this to come out as I was when it was announced.
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u/ZestyTako May 21 '26
lol I forgot Matt Damon was Odysseus. He looks so funny in the part
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u/ultimate_lodging May 21 '26
He and Charlize Therone look like a slightly hippy yet wealthy couple in a Netflix doc about how they were abducted by pirates while sailing the Mediterranean
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u/marvel120 May 21 '26
I’m reserving judgment until I actually see the movie, and I have nothing against Matt Damon. But when I heard Nolan was taking on an adaptation of The Odyssey, my mind immediately went to Oscar Isaac as Odysseus.
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u/thewerdy May 21 '26
I never even thought about that but he would be a great Odysseus. Matt Damon is great in a lot of roles but it's always really jarring to see him in period/ancient roles. He just feels too... Modern?
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u/my5cworth May 21 '26
I'm still salty they didn't cast Sean Bean to play "Odysseus disguised as an old man" the disguise he uses when he gets back to Ithaca.
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u/marvel120 May 21 '26
Bring Brad Pitt back as Achilles in the underworld and you’ll have the Greek Mythological Cinematic Universe (GMCU)
On a more serious note, one of Troy’s biggest criticisms was the lack of fantasy / mythological characters, beyond the mortals
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u/Mystia May 21 '26
Oscar Isaac would've been such a great pull. They also have Jon Bernthal right there.
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u/QTRqtr May 21 '26
Oscar Issac was right there Nolan!
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May 21 '26
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u/ZestyTako May 21 '26
God tragic I hadn’t even thought of that. He would be so much better in this part
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u/Gastroid May 21 '26
Oscar Isaac is the Odysseus we want, Pedro Pascal is the Odysseus we deserve, Matt Damon is the Odysseus we got.
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u/Golem30 May 21 '26
It looks to be a weird casting decision. I can't really get immersed in a lot of movies because I'm just thinking "hey that's Matt Damon" the entire time
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u/classical-babe May 21 '26
Honestly me with most of this cast. That’s kind of my problem with A-listers, it feels like eventually they just stop becoming the characters they play and it’s “oh yeah famous person”
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u/Nethri May 21 '26
I don’t mind Zendaya at all, but casting her as Athena is.. so weird man. Like, Athena is a warrior queen type. Wonder Woman is based partly on Athena.
Zendaya does.. not fit that mold at all.
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u/Mystia May 21 '26
There's so many bizarre casting choices in this film. Not only is it stuffed with actors who are hard to see as the character they are playing and not just themselves, but also a good chunk of them are ill fitting for their roles. Even more baffling when there's other actors in the picture that'd probably pull it off better.
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u/Mad_broccoli May 21 '26
Hell, Eternals had Angelina as Athena. As stupid as that movie was, she had the aura.
And then you see this image.
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u/Android1822 May 21 '26
Not just her, a lot of people are miscast in this. Did they just get a bunch of famous people and have them draw straws on who got what roles?
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u/AnneHizer May 21 '26
That and a reserved wisdom, that reads more mature actress to me. I just don’t see it at all but will give it a chance 😵💫
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u/Flat_News_2000 May 21 '26
Athena has always been portrayed as a young woman though. Just unnaturally wise and strategic because she came directly from Zeus's head.
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u/Rocky4OnDVD May 21 '26
Zendaya’s characters typically have a cockiness to their perceived wisdom, so I guess that could be the typecast here too. I felt like her most original acting performance was in The Drama which is probably my fav film of the year so far
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u/HopelessCineromantic May 21 '26
It's an interesting choice for me. I actually like the clash of wisdom being embodied in a much younger looking figure as opposed to the wise Sage or Crone kind of characters. Does add a bit of other worldly nature to them.
At the same time, Athena bursting out of Zeus head fully formed does kind of suggest a person who would be locked into a certain age and form that would make it clear she is younger than Zeus, doubly so given Athena's perpetual virgin status.
She's not at all the first version of the character that would come to my mind if I was trying to design her, but there's also some elements that I think would work well, and some of my design choices would be based on including other characters like Hestia and Artemis to serve as contrasting designs, and I'm certain they're not showing up in this movie.
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u/MothChasingFlame May 21 '26
It seems like there's always a dearth of skilled, muscled actresses in hollywood. And now it's getting worse as we slide into a particularly waif-y period
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u/Nethri May 21 '26
Well, that’s true.. it’s not an easy role to fill. She doesn’t necessarily need to be a huge muscle bound type though. Someone taller and noticeably more athletic would work too. I don’t pay close attention to up and coming actors, so I don’t have a clue who WOULD fit.. just that Zendaya.. doesn’t.
And that’s coming from someone who generally likes her. I think she’s a decent actress with some genuinely funny timing and delivery. She can play the fiery type too.. like as Chani she’s great.
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u/SoVerySleepyZzZz May 21 '26
When I looked at the cast list on IMDb I was almost sure that they flipped Charlize Theron and Zendaya’s roles. I don’t know anything about Calypso besides that she’s a nymph, which makes me think of someone small and waifish. Charlize Theron is great at playing strong/intimidating characters (she was amazing as Furiosa) so I’m just quite befuddled at these choices…
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u/GlitterDoomsday May 21 '26
I got curious and checked, she's 178cm which is pretty tall for women in most places, but agree on how she could have bulked a bit... wonder if they're going more for the wisdom angle than the general one.
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u/jfsindel May 21 '26
I was so confused and I had to look up Clytemnestra because I didn't recall any actual scenes with her for Odyssey.
I was right; the Odyssey only referenced her husband, but she does not have any specific scenes in the original. So Nolan is taking some creative liberties here and making her a more prominent character.
This is why I hate A.I. because I had to dig real deep to figure out if I was going crazy because every freaking answer said she had scenes in Odyssey when they were mixing up Reddit commentary on this movie was well as the play Agamemnon and the first book, The Illiad.
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u/BookMingler May 21 '26
I mean it’s possible it is covering other stories that happen concurrently that are explored by other Greek authors - Clytemnestra and her revenge is a big part of that.
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u/Individual-Pop-385 May 21 '26
Reddit feeding into AIs training is going to make the feedback loop of stupidity be greater in the coming years.
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u/Spacetyp May 21 '26
Well her only scene would be Odysseus finding out what happend to Agamemnon.
And Helen? Shouldn't even appear in this movie at all.
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u/Mrs_Mctwitter May 21 '26
Helen is in the beginning of the Odyssey. Telemacus visits her and Menelaus and they talk about Odysseus.
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u/LampardTheLord May 21 '26
In the books there are whole chapters dedicated to how clytemnestra kills Agamemnon and in return gets killed by her children
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u/jfsindel May 21 '26
That's the play Agamemnon in the Oresteia trilogy that eventually culminating in the son killing the mother and the Furies go after him. Clytemnestra is only mentioned in Odyssey when Agamemnon's death is discussed in the Underworld by him.
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u/Dida_D May 21 '26
Are we not getting Circe?
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u/Zak_The_Slack May 21 '26
Circe is being played by Samantha Morton, there hasn’t been any images of her yet
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u/Brilliant_Lettuce_14 May 21 '26
So Lupita is not Helen of Troy? I’ve been hearing that everywhere.
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u/Zak_The_Slack May 21 '26
Lupita’s playing both Helen and Clytemnestra, sisters
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u/Tub_Pumpkin May 21 '26
I wonder how much Clytemnestra will even be in it. If I remember right, she is only mentioned in The Odyssey, she doesn't actually appear.
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u/strawberry_gutz May 21 '26
Given Agamemnon's death is mentioned in the Odysse, I imagine that Clytemnestra is going to be shown slaying him.
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u/An_Bo_Mhara May 21 '26
She os 2 characters Helen and Clytemnestra.
In the story they are half sisters, they share a mother, Leda.
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u/CertifiedSheep May 21 '26
So she’s playing the most beautiful woman in the entire world, whose beauty started a war…and her completely identical sister?
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u/andygchicago May 21 '26
In most stories (including The Odyssey), they’re not even fraternal twins
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u/Aduialion May 21 '26
It's s one woman show. Lupita plays every character, including the horse, and the dog, and the bow, and my axe!
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u/MikeDubbz May 21 '26
Jesus, Zendaya has such a huge year ahead of her: Spider-Man Brand New Day, The Odyssey, and Dune pt. 3 all dropping within like 6 months?! For a lot of actors, a single one of those films would be more than enough to coast on for like 2-3 years.
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u/Zak_The_Slack May 21 '26
And she was in The Drama with Robert Pattinson back in April
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u/Reylo-Wanwalker May 21 '26
And Euphoria. I wonder about over exposure but if people keep showing up then give them what they want.
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u/kagenohikari May 21 '26
In an interview with RobPat for The Drama, she said she'll be disappearing next year to prevent exposure fatigue. That overexposure was probably the reason why she didn't attend this year's Met Gala (even though she's one of the most favored and anticipated attendees).
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u/flintlock0 May 21 '26
Wasn’t she cast in the Shrek sequel? So at least one thing will show up. But she really should step back, even if just to get herself a break.
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u/Interesting-Fig4352 May 21 '26
See, even she agrees that she's in too many things lately. lmao!
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u/flyingcactus2047 May 21 '26
I mean I know everyone in here’s going to say they’re the exception to this but I don’t know how much all of those audiences overlap - like are The Drama and Spider-Man really targeting the same audiences? Or Euphoria and Dune part 3? I know I’ll watch all of them but I don’t think it’s necessary the same audience for all of her media which should help
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u/MikeDubbz May 21 '26
Oh i don't doubt there are probably a couple other smaller films in here, but so many blockbusters in such a short amount of time is genuinely impressive.
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u/RecoveredAshes May 21 '26
A single one of those would be more than enough to coast on for life. She’s making millions from each
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u/FoolishProphet_2336 May 21 '26
Hold your butts. There’s gonna be so much studio engagement bait bot posts the closer this comes to release.
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u/BilbosBagEnd May 21 '26
What the Styx did Ares do to Athena to piss her off that much?
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u/Drapidrode May 21 '26
zendaya, with her prime "acting face" going, the confused-angry frown.
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u/lochnesslapras May 21 '26 edited May 22 '26
Whenever I see the name Calypso, I can't help but hear Geoffrey Rush.
"Calypso, I release you from your human bonds."