Christopher Nolan's forthcoming adaptation of The Odyssey makes significant changes to Homer's ancient Greek epic, trimming characters and scenes to fit the sprawling 12,000-line poem into a three-hour film. The Guardian outlines the most notable alterations, from omitted deities and famous encounters to invented plot details, showing how Nolan reshaped the source material for a modern cinema audience while preserving its core narrative.

Nolan largely strips out the gods, retaining only Athena (Zendaya), who appears to Odysseus (Matt Damon) as a vision representing his conscience rather than a fully realised deity, while Zeus, Poseidon and Hermes are absent entirely. The film also cuts the Phaeacians and princess Nausicaa, instead having Odysseus recount his adventures to Calypso (Charlize Theron); omits major figures from the underworld scene including Achilles, Ajax and Odysseus's mother; and softens the poem's grisly ending, though it invents a new detail in which Penelope (Anne Hathaway) pushes the disloyal Melantho (Mia Goth) into the slaughter of the suitors.