Audiences recently got their first glimpse of Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film The Odyssey, which depicts Matt Damon’s character, Odysseus, alone at sea. This scene is part of Odysseus’ epic journey, based on Homer’s classic poem, as he travels back to his home of Ithaca after fighting in the Trojan War, with his trip repeatedly interrupted by a variety of Greek gods and beasts.

The first trailer for 2026’s The Odyssey only shows Damon’s Odysseus lying on a piece of debris drifting in the ocean. As the trailer depicts Odysseus’ son, Telemachus (Tom Holland), hearing different stories about his father’s whereabouts, the sH๏τ of Odysseus stranded in the middle of the sea builds plenty of mystery, excitement, and stakes for the story.

Although the cause of Odysseus’s shipwreck isn’t explained in the trailer, the source material reveals a great deal about it, and what to expect from the protagonist’s perilous journey in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.

Odysseus Was Shipwrecked After Surviving A Storm Summoned By Zeus

The Actions Of Odysseus’s Crew Invoked The Rage Of The Gods Themselves

One of the most pivotal moments in Homer’s Odyssey is when Odysseus’ starving crew slaughter and eat the sacred cattle of the sun god, Helios, while stopping on the island of Thrinacia during their voyage home. Though they had received multiple warnings not to eat the cattle, the crew defied the gods out of desperate hunger, causing them to incur the wrath of Zeus himself.

Under Helios’ request, Zeus sends a storm that destroys Odysseus’ ship at sea. Just as Odysseus and his crew were warned, this storm wrecks their vessel, killing all but the former. This scene is another instance of the human characters succumbing to the raw power of nature and the gods, as well as their own hubris, which could be explored in Nolan’s film.

How Does Odysseus Return Home After Being Shipwrecked?

Odysseus Must Overcome A Lot To Get Back Home In The Odyssey

In Homer’s poem, after surviving Zeus’ storm, Odysseus ends up on the island inhabited by the sea nymph Calypso. As the latter has fallen in love with Odysseus, Calypso traps him there, offering him the chance to be immortal. After Odysseus refuses, Calypso lets him leave under orders from the deity Hermes. Odysseus then builds a raft that he uses to sail back to Ithaca.

However, during his journey, the sea god Poseidon attempts to destroy Odysseus’ raft, as the protagonist had blinded Poseidon’s Cyclops son Polyphemus earlier in the story. Though Odysseus is shipwrecked again, he receives aid from the Phaeacians.

They secretly sail him back to Ithaca after 20 years away from home. Given that The Odyssey will be a feature-length film, it is possible that only one shipwreck will be adapted to compress and streamline the narrative for moviegoers.

Overall, it’s unknown which shipwreck from Homer’s poem is shown in the first trailer for Nolan’s The Odyssey. It seems likely that it will be the first wreck, since it would then kick off Odysseus’ journey, but anything is possible right now.

Either way, it will surely be a huge plot point in The Odyssey. The premise of one man trying to return home while stranded at sea will make Damon’s next movie an exciting cinema experience, with that single sH๏τ of Odysseus drifting in the ocean already teasing a thrilling fantasy blockbuster.