The Odyssey: 5 deities likely to shape the fate of Odysseus in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming epic 

Christopher Nolan’s upcoming epic, The Odyssey, is set to bring Homer’s timeless tale of war, wanderlust, and divine meddling to the big screen with a star-studded cast and the director’s signature grandeur. But in this mythic retelling, Odysseus’ decade-long journey home is a chess game played by the gods themselves.

From protectors who tip the scales in his favor to vengeful deities who’d rather see him sink than sail, these divine forces will dictate every twist of his fate. Here are five deities most likely to shape Odysseus’ journey in Nolan’s vision.

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Athena

Athena is the quiet storm behind every victory in The Odyssey, the goddess who bends fate in Odysseus’ favor without ever stealing the spotlight. As his patron deity, she plays the long game. At the poem’s opening, she ignites the Telemachy, nudging a restless Telemachus (Odysseus' son) to leave home and seek stories of his father’s glory. In Greek mythology, Athena is the Goddess of wisdom, strategic warfare, and crafts.

For Odysseus, Athena is a master of timing. She cloaks him in disguises, orchestrates chance encounters like Nausicaa by the river, and steps in at his lowest, shipwrecked, alone, stripped to nothing, to set him back on course. What binds them is more than divine duty; it’s a shared brilliance. He wields cunning where others use swords, and she delights in a mortal who can match her in wit.

In Christopher Nolan’s adaptation, rumor has it Zendaya will embody Athena. If the rumors are true, expect a goddess who commands the screen with modern fire, divine precision, and the kind of presence that can rewrite a hero’s destiny.

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Circe

Circe, the immortal enchantress of Aeaea and the Goddess of sorcery, is both a vision of beauty and a warning wrapped in silk. She first appears at her loom, singing sweetly, the perfect image of a proper wife in Greek society. But her beauty is only the wrapping.

When Odysseus’ scouts step into her palace, she greets them with golden cups and warm welcomes. Then, with a lazy flick of her wand, she strips away their humanity, leaving a squealing pen of pigs. Circe’s danger isn’t only in her spells, it’s in the way she rewrites the rules. In a world where men are meant to conquer, she commands and decdes who thrives and who survives.

Her character also holds great importance as she halts Odysseus' journey and tempts him to stay with her in Aeaea, diverting him from his odyssey to Ithaca.

In The Odyssey, Circe will be played by Charlize Theron, a role the actress has described as "epic."

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Poseidon

Poseidon, god of the sea, shaker of the earth, and undisputed drama king of Mount Olympus, is the last deity Odysseus should have crossed. Yet our hero managed it with style: blinding Polyphemus, a man-eating cyclops who just so happened to be Poseidon’s beloved son. If Odysseus had simply sailed away in silence, things might have ended there. But that little victory lap became a curse, literally, as Polyphemus prayed to his father to make Odysseus’ return home a nightmare.

Poseidon delivers on the request with intensity. He can’t kill Odysseus as fate forbids it but he can make every mile of ocean a gauntlet. He smashes ships with storms, twists currents to lead him astray, and times his assaults for maximum frustration, like wrecking him just as land is in sight. Even the other gods tread lightly; Athena hides her support when Poseidon’s around, and Zeus waits until the sea god is off in Ethiopia to discuss freeing Odysseus.

This is divine vengeance at its pettiest and most relentless, proof that in The Odyssey, anger from the wrong god is a sentence worse than death. If rumors are to be believed, Robert Pattinson would be playing Poseidon in The Odyssey although it has not been confirmed yet.

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Calypso

Calypso, the “lustrous” daughter of a Titan, enters The Odyssey as both rescuer and captor. When Odysseus is shipwrecked after his crew’s disastrous slaughter of Helios’ sacred cattle, it is she who finds him, shelters him, and makes him her lover. For seven years, her island is his gilded cage, a paradise scented with cedar and blossoms, yet one he longs to escape.

She offers him immortality, a place at her side as her eternal husband, but Odysseus’ heart is tethered to Penelope and Ithaca. Calypso’s captivity is not born of cruelty alone. She feeds him, clothes him, lets him roam her island freely, and even aids his departure when commanded by Zeus, pointing out the best trees for shipbuilding and giving him tools to craft his vessel. But she is no meek goddess.

Her parting speech highlights the double standards among Greek society as male gods take mortal lovers without consequence, yet goddesses are shamed for the same. It is not yet clear who will be playing Calypso in The Odyssey, but it's clear that it will be an important role.

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Zeus

Zeus, lord of thunder and king of the gods, spends most of The Odyssey perched above the fray, like a monarch too grand to dirty his hands, until, suddenly, he does. Patron of oaths and sacred guest friendship (xenia), he opens the epic by scoffing at mortals who blame the gods for their own mistakes.

When Odysseus’ men slaughter Helios’ sacred cattle, violating both divine law and their sworn word, Zeus answers with a storm so violent it swallows ship and crew alike. At times he permits Athena to guide Odysseus and Telemachus, even in defiance of Poseidon. At others, he sides with the sea god or indulges another deity’s anger, such as when he allows Poseidon to punish the hospitable Phaeacians, ironically for honoring the very code of xenia Zeus himself enforces

He is a god of contradictions: judge, enforcer, and political weathervane. This duality defines him. Fickle, powerful, and swayed by the tempers of his peers, Zeus acts as a divine mediator whose “justice” often bends to ego. His rare interventions carry enormous weight and it is certain that his character will shape Odysseus in The Odyssey in ways more than one.

The Odyssey will be in theaters on July 17, 2026.