Fans have had a lot to say about The Odyssey before it even hits theaters, and one line reading has somehow become one of the loudest arguments of the summer. Now, Tom Holland and Christopher Nolan are done staying quiet about it.
The controversy goes back to the film’s first trailer, where Holland’s Telemachus casually mentions that his dad is coming home. For a story set in Ancient Greece, that word choice did not sit well with a chunk of the internet, who felt something like father would have fit the tone better.
Tom Holland Shuts Down The Odyssey Dad Debate
Holland finally addressed it directly in a new interview with Britain’s Channel 4 News, and his response cuts right through the noise.
“Because I wouldn’t have even said father back in the day, would I? It would’ve been Greek. So, it’s no less correct,” he said.
It is a simple point, but a hard one to argue with. Telemachus was never speaking English in the first place, so arguing over which English word is more authentic kind of misses what authenticity even means here.
Nolan backed his star up, framing the whole debate as part of a bigger pattern in how people approach ancient stories.
“When you look at the ancient world, people tend to view it in weird ways,” he said. “There’s a lot of cultural prejudice. There’s a lot of sort of elevating it, because it’s old, you know, whatever it is. When you go to the poem, what you find is something that’s really earthy and grounded and accessible.”
He kept going, tying that idea directly back to how he built the movie’s world with his cast. “And so, for me, in building the world of the film, what I talked to all the actors about, I just want to center it on that, and make it feel very fresh for modern audiences, and do away with some of those assumptions that aren’t based on anything logical. They’re just, as I say, cultural prejudices.”
The dad debate is just one of several pre-release firestorms swirling around The Odyssey, alongside complaints about the film’s armor and casting choices involving Lupita Nyong’o, Travis Scott, and Elliot Page. None of it seems to be hurting ticket sales, with tracking putting the opening weekend somewhere between $80 million and $100 million.
The Odyssey sails into theaters on July 17, 2026.
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