Christopher Nolan’s movies are known for their stunning visuals, innovative action sequences and clever twists. In this sense, he’s going with form in tackling Homer’s Ancient Greek epic The Odyssey, however challenging this story might be to render on film. Yet one particular action-packed chapter of The Odyssey will be different from anything else Nolan has directed before.

Homer’s epic is known for high-concept tropes of the kind Nolan often uses to confuse his audience and complicate his movies, such as its non-linear timeline and story-within-a-story. But like so much of Nolan’s work, it’s fundamentally a simple story about its eponymous hero, Odysseus, overcoming improbable odds to make it home. Arguably the biggest obstacle on his homecoming journey is the monstrous cyclops Polyphemus, who devours six of Odysseus’ men when they steal food from his cave. Odysseus himself looks set to suffer the same fate, before he devises a brilliant plan, setting up a sequence that Nolan is sure to enjoy filming.

Odysseus Vs The Cyclops Is The Most Action-Packed Scene In The Odyssey

It’s A Violent, David Vs Goliath-Style Confrontation

There are three parts to Odysseus’ escape plan. The first is an act of subterfuge which will help build suspense for the action-packed crescendo to follow. When Odysseus begins his deception of the giant Cyclops, there are already the remains of six half-chewed bodies on the floor, making this sequence surely one of the most graphic scenes Nolan will have ever filmed. Secondly, there is the main part of the action itself, as Odysseus and his men try to defeat Polyphemus by force, striking him at his weakest point.

When other cyclopes come to his aid, they also fall victim to Odysseus’ deception. It will be interesting to see whether Nolan elongates this part of the sequence, to emphasize the violent act which breaks the tension and the brute power of Polyphemus and his fellow monsters. Meanwhile, the final part will involve a risky getaway attempt, but not the kind we’re used to seeing in the best action scenes from Nolan’s movies, which are typically set in the modern day or recent past.

How Odysseus Vs. The Cyclopes Will Be Different From Anything Nolan Has Done

It Could Push The Director’s Approach To CGI Beyond Its Limits

This sequence in Christopher Nolan’s movie will portray a gigantic supernatural one-eyed monster, in the form of Polyphemus, a cyclops. In fact, it will likely have to portray many cyclopes at once during a single scene. This is no small feat for a director accustomed to executing all of his action sequences with an almost clinical precision, and imbuing them with the sense of kinetic realism that his Dark Knight movies. Polyphemus and his fellow cyclopes will surely have to be animated with computer-generated graphics in a way that no other Nolan characters have been.

Rendering the cyclopes onscreen will be a brand-new challenge for the director and his team, not only in getting the look right, but in maintaining the movie’s suspension of disbelief when Polyphemus arrives on the scene. According to the man himself, Nolan’s last movie Oppenheimer used zero CGI, but to do the same with Polyphemus would mean removing or radically altering the supernatural elements of the sequence. The Coen Brothers took this approach when they had John Goodman play the character, in their decidedly loose adaptation of The Odyssey, O Brother, Where Art Thou?. Goodman was very much himself, only with an eye patch to reflect his portrayal of a one-eyed monster.

Who Could Play Odysseus And Polyphemus In Christopher Nolan’s Movie?

The Odysseus Actor Is Much Easier To Predict Than Who Will Play The Cyclops

Of course, the nature of the cyclops sequence in Nolan’s version of The Odyssey will also depend on who is playing each character. Matt Damon is the headline actor to have been confirmed for the movie, which suggests he’s in line to play its protagonist, King Odysseus. On the other hand, Polyphemus could be played by an actor not yet added to the cast list of Nolan’s Odyssey.

A total CGI rendering of the cyclops would likely require an actor who specializes in playing this type of character. One option could be Andy Serkis, who’s been cast as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings, King Kong, and Supreme Leader Snoke in Star Wars during his storied career. Otherwise, if the role will simply involve CGI alterations to a live actor’s physique, it could be up for grabs among some of Nolan’s regular collaborators. It’s not hard to imagine Tom Hardy playing the brutish Polyphemus, or even an already-confirmed cast member of The Odyssey like Jon Bernthal stepping into the role.