{"id":2233,"date":"2026-05-15T11:44:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T11:44:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/elon-musk-accuses-christopher-nolan-of-pandering-for-awards-with-casting-in-the-odyssey\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T11:44:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T11:44:45","slug":"elon-musk-accuses-christopher-nolan-of-pandering-for-awards-with-casting-in-the-odyssey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/elon-musk-accuses-christopher-nolan-of-pandering-for-awards-with-casting-in-the-odyssey\/","title":{"rendered":"Elon Musk accuses Christopher Nolan of pandering for awards with casting in &#8216;The Odyssey&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/newspress-collage-y39b4naow-1778837580207.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft wp-block-nypost-editor-partner-article-links\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Tesla founder and X owner Elon Musk blasted filmmaker Christopher Nolan on Tuesday after the director <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/05\/12\/entertainment\/christopher-nolan-defends-backlash-to-odyssey-casting\/\">confirmed some diverse casting choices<\/a> in his adaptation of classical Greek mythological epic \u201cThe Odyssey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nolan, famous for films like \u201cInterstellar,\u201d \u201cThe Dark Knight\u201d trilogy, \u201cOppenheimer,\u201d and many other blockbusters, has sparked online backlash for his upcoming adaptation of \u201cThe Odyssey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While the subject matter deals with ancient western civilization, some critics argue Nolan\u2019s upcoming rendition appears too modern, ranging from informal American English speech to diverse casting choices.<\/p>\n<p>While many unconfirmed rumors have swirled in recent weeks, one controversial casting choice Nolan confirmed in a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/article\/2026\/05\/12\/christopher-nolan-odyssey-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Time Magazine interview<\/a>\u00a0on Tuesday was that Kenyan-Mexican actress Lupita Nyong\u2019o, famous for her roles in \u201cBlack Panther\u201d and \u201c12 Years a Slave\u201d will play Helen of Troy, known in mythology as the world\u2019s most beautiful woman and for whom the Trojan War was started in Homer\u2019s epic.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Elon Musk slammed Christopher Nolan\u2019s diverse casting in \u201cThe Odyssey,\u201d specifically Lupita Nyong\u2019o as Helen of Troy. <span class=\"credit\">AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Nyong\u2019o will also be playing Helen\u2019s sister Clytemnestra in the same movie.<\/p>\n<p>A user on X noted that the Academy Awards now has extensive diversity requirements.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/elonmusk\/status\/2054353316499595342\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Musk agreed,<\/a>\u00a0writing that Nolan \u201cwants the awards.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Musk previously criticized the casting of Helen of Troy in January before,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/elonmusk\/status\/2017613726208401779\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">arguing that<\/a>\u00a0\u201cChris Nolan has lost his integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Nolan won Best Director and Best Picture for \u201cOppenheimer\u201d at the 2024 Academy Awards. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/elonmusk\/status\/2054297708903751740\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Musk agreed<\/a>\u00a0with one conservative commentator who suggested Nolan would be called racist if he gave the role to a white woman instead.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/the-odyssey-nolan-american-accents-trailer-1236586611\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Hollywood Reporter<\/a>\u00a0was taken aback by the American accents used in the trailer, writing, \u201cEverybody sounds like they\u2019re from Ohio.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nolan also revealed to Time that rapper\u00a0Travis Scott\u00a0will be playing a Greek bard. Nolan defended the choice as an acknowledgment of poetic tradition.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Lupita Nyong\u2019o, left in \u201cBlack Panther,\u201d will play Helen of Troy and Helen\u2019s sister Clytemnestra in \u201cThe Odyssey.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9Walt Disney Co.\/courtesy Everett \/ Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI 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,\u201d Nolan\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/article\/2026\/05\/12\/christopher-nolan-odyssey-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told Time Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I edge into territory I fear might trigger prickliness, he shrugs, says, \u2018Fair enough,\u2019 and delves earnestly into production decisions that have launched a thousand Reddit posts,\u201d the Time journalist said of his time interviewing Nolan.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2018The Odyssey\u2019\u00a0is arguably the biggest film of Nolan\u2019s career,\u201d Time touted. \u201cIt may also be the summer blockbuster <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/02\/us-news\/fears-grow-of-detroit-style-decline-as-hollywood-jobs-evaporate\/\">the\u00a0struggling entertainment industry<\/a>\u00a0needs right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Rapper Travis Scott will be playing a Greek bard in \u201cThe Odyssey.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">FilmMagic<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cBut the film also feels like a culmination,\u201d the interviewer noted. \u201cNolan is aware that he makes a lot of movies about brilliant men trying to get home to their families. When I ask whether he worries about fan response to repeating certain tropes, he pauses and sighs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDespite the fact that he doesn\u2019t carry a smartphone, the internet has found him,\u201d the interviewer said, recalling that Nolan said of the internet\u2019s response so far: \u201c\u2019You have to be comfortable with repeating yourself, if it\u2019s right for the project.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you\u2019re paying too much attention to what people are pointing out in your work, you\u2019d be paralyzed.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Nolan said he cast Scott as an acknowledgment of poetic tradition. <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9Paramount\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=f_bKjZeJBBI&amp;pp=ygUTdGhlIG9keXNzZXkgdHJhaWxlcg%3D%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">footage released so far<\/a>, characters in Nolan\u2019s adaptation can be seen using modernized American English terms like \u201cLet\u2019s go\u201d and \u201cDaddy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GGIriClDwkk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">A recent promotion<\/a>\u00a0for the film featured NBA player LeBron James and his son, as parallels to Odysseus and his son Telemachus, where LeBron is dribbling a basketball and narrating over imagery from the film.<\/p>\n<p>Some progressives have taken notice and attacked conservative criticism of the film before its release. A\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/film\/opinion\/the-odyssey-elon-musk-diversity-christopher-nolan-lupita-nyongo-1236747945\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Variety writer mocked<\/a>\u00a0\u201cliterary purists\u201d as having objections to non-white actors in traditionally white roles.<\/p>\n<p>During a segment on \u201cThe View\u201d on Thursday about the controversy, Whoopi Goldberg suggested those who had an issue with the casting just not watch the movie.<\/p>\n<p>She also remarked that Musk was \u201cOK with apartheid\u201d growing up in South Africa before hastily saying she didn\u2019t know if he was an \u201capartheid apologist\u201d and \u201cI take it back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fellow co-host Sunny Hostin said \u201cracism rears its ugly head\u201d often in the US and added historians have explored that Greek mythology was influenced by ancient Egypt and North Africa.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/05\/15\/entertainment\/elon-musk-accuses-christopher-nolan-of-pandering-for-awards-with-casting-in-the-odyssey\/\" target=\"_blank\">Source link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tesla founder and X owner Elon Musk blasted filmmaker Christopher Nolan on Tuesday after the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/newspress-collage-y39b4naow-1778837580207.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}