Robert Pattinson has spent years building one of the most devoted fanbases in Hollywood, and he thinks that loyalty is about to get tested again. Ahead of The Odyssey‘s release, the actor is drawing a very specific comparison between his new villain and a character fans know all too well.
Pattinson plays Antinous, the lead suitor vying for Penelope’s hand while Odysseus is presumed dead, in Christopher Nolan’s sprawling adaptation of Homer’s epic. He’s already described the role as “sleazy,” pulling inspiration from James Woods’s Casino for the character’s oily charm. Now he’s connecting the dots between Antinous and a face fans have loved (and argued over) for over fifteen years.
Robert Pattinson Compares Antinous To Twilight’s Jacob Black
Speaking to MTV, Pattinson laid out the comparison directly. “It’s kind of like Jacob in ‘Twilight’… Penelope just can’t make her mind up between the two guys and I’m just trying to like help her make a decision. … It’s like, it’s fine. He’s dead, get over it.”
It’s a cheeky read on the love triangle at the heart of The Odyssey. Just as Bella was torn between Edward and Jacob, Penelope is caught between her missing husband and the suitors circling Ithaca, with Antinous positioning himself as the practical, present option to a woman still holding out hope for a man everyone else assumes is gone.
Pattinson previously told GQ he leaned into Antinous’s slippery charisma on purpose, at one point requesting “leopard underpants” for his costume fitting to push the character’s sleaze even further. Early reactions out of the film’s press circuit have singled him out too, with Fandango’s Erik Davis calling the performance “conniving, manipulative and endlessly entertaining to watch” and one of Pattinson’s favorite turns yet.
The Odyssey also stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Tom Holland as Telemachus, Zendaya as Athena, and Charlize Theron as Circe, with John Leguizamo rounding out the ensemble as Eumaeus. Nolan shot the entire film on IMAX cameras across locations spanning Morocco, Greece, Italy, Iceland, Scotland, and the United States.
Whether Antinous earns the same devotion Jacob did remains to be seen, but Pattinson clearly isn’t shying away from the comparison.
The Odyssey opens in theaters on July 17.
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