Christopher Nolan Doubles Down on Casting Travis Scott in The Odyssey Amid Backlash
With The Odyssey set to hit theaters July 17, Christopher Nolan is standing by his most debated call: casting Travis Scott as a bard, laying out the creative logic he believes will turn early criticism into the film’s secret weapon.
File this under 'things I wasn’t expecting': Travis Scott is playing a bard in Christopher Nolan’s wild new take on The Odyssey. The film is hitting theaters July 17, and Nolan—never accused of playing it safe—has been getting questions about the decision.
So, why does a blockbuster director cast a major rapper to play an ancient Greek poet? Nolan actually broke down his reasoning, and honestly, it’s kind of fascinating. He told TIME he wanted to remind people that the whole story of The Odyssey started out as, get this, oral poetry. Bards literally rapped this epic to live crowds long before anyone ever read it in a dusty library. Nolan put it like this:
'I cast him because I wanted to nod towards the idea that this story has been handed down as oral poetry, which is analogous to rap.'
Basically, he sees a direct line from those ancient Greek performers to modern music artists like Travis Scott. If you stop and think about it, it’s not as wild as it sounds: Homer was the OG hip-hop storyteller.
The Sound of Bronze… and No Orchestra
The creative left turns do not stop at casting. Nolan and Ludwig Goransson—who’s already got three Oscars for his music—teamed up to do something totally unexpected on the score: they ditched the orchestra. You read that right. Not a violin in sight.
As Goransson explained, back in Homer’s day, orchestras weren’t even a thing. In his own words:
'It’s not like the orchestra existed back then. It was a challenge and also an opening to try to make something unique.'
So, Goransson literally rented 35 bronze gongs (because why not?), played around with all of them, added in some synths, and created a score that probably won’t remind you of any other big-budget ancient epic you’ve seen.
Ancient Strings, Modern Drama
If you’re a fan of obscure musical details (and, look, who isn’t?), there’s one other wrinkle: the lyre gets a starring sonic role. Nolan had the idea to tie the instrument to a key story moment—turning the pluck of the lyre into the iconic sound of Odysseus’ bowstring. Goransson said, 'Chris had this idea of the sound of the lyre being the pluck of Odysseus' bow.' That’s the kind of artsy flourish you expect from Nolan at this point.
What’s the Cast Look Like?
- Matt Damon is Odysseus—an interesting pick, and honestly, if anyone has main character energy for this, it’s him.
- Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, and Zendaya are all along for the ride. No word yet on who’s playing the Cyclops.
- Travis Scott, of course, as the bard—expect him in at least a few crucial scenes.
As for the film’s technical side, Universal is putting this out, and it’s actually the first full-length feature that’s been shot only on IMAX. Nolan keeps finding new ways to nerd out about film formats—and you have to respect that.