Christopher Nolan says Batman prepared him for ‘The Odyssey’ backlash: “It comes with the territory”
The director says his approach is to honor the source material rather than react to internet debates.
To say that ‘The Odyssey’ is currently facing backlash just days before its release from people who haven’t even seen it would be an understatement. Director Christopher Nolan’s upcoming adaptation of Homer’s classic tale has drawn criticism for a range of reasons, from the design of the armor and the use of more modern English dialogue to casting decisions—such as casting Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy—or the notion that Elliot Page will play Achilles (even though it has already been revealed that he’s playing a different role). For a director of Nolan’s stature, being in the eye of the storm amid these kinds of situations seems utterly “irrelevant.”
He confirmed this in a recent interview with The Telegraph, where he revealed that his experience with ‘Batman Begins’ helped him become less sensitive to comments from the internet. “It comes with the territory,” he said. “But look, these conversations that happen before people see the film—they’re always irrelevant, because no one having them knows what the film is actually like yet. But remember, I spent 10 years of my life dealing with Batman.”
Batman made Nolan realize that online complaints are nothing more than that
“When I came on to Batman Begins, writers and artists had been working on this beloved character for almost 65 years, and a lot of freighted thoughts were out there about what he represents. And what I learnt over my time on that trilogy is you can’t worry about any of that at all. What you have to do is honour the original text by interpreting it in the strongest way you personally can.”
The Telegraph recalls the backlash that followed Heath Ledger’s casting announcemente as The Joker, which initially did not sit well with the most skeptical fans. “In the end, fans of the franchise—even when we were doing something that wasn’t what they would have done—appreciated the sincerity of our attempt to bring the best possible version of it to the screen. All I can do is make the best film I possibly can in the most sincere way.”
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Will ‘The Odyssey’ have that certain something that changes the mind of fans seeking historical accuracy in a mythological tale? We’ll find out by the end of this week.
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