The new development is Christopher Nolan’s explanation of why he removed a well-known joke from Homer’s *The Odyssey* in his film adaptation, which opens this week. Speaking on *The Daily Show*, Nolan said he had tried to include the ancient pun from the Cyclops episode but found that it did not work in translation, a choice that matters because it shows how he balanced faithfulness to the source with what would function on screen. The update also adds fresh detail on one of the film’s other reinterpretations: its staging of the Trojan Horse sequence.

The omitted joke centres on Odysseus telling the Cyclops that his name is “Nobody”, so that when the monster is later attacked and cries out that “Nobody” is hurting him, the other Cyclopes misunderstand and do not help. Nolan said the wordplay depends heavily on the original Greek, making it difficult to preserve in English dialogue. The article also notes that Nolan previously worked on ideas for *Troy* and reused one here, showing the horse half-buried on the beach rather than standing conspicuously outside the gates, as a more believable version of the ruse.