Christopher Nolan reveals why Batman helped him handle 'The Odyssey' criticism

Christopher Nolan says his experience directing The Dark Knight trilogy prepared him to tune out criticism surrounding his upcoming adaptation of The Odyssey.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker addressed the pre-release backlash facing the epic during an interview with The Guardian, saying controversy is inevitable when adapting beloved stories and insisting that conversations before audiences see the finished film are ultimately meaningless.

"These conversations that happen before people see the film—they're always irrelevant, because no one having them knows what the film actually is yet," Nolan said.

The director acknowledged that The Odyssey has sparked debate ahead of its release, including criticism over the casting of Black actors such as Lupita Nyong'o and Zendaya, as well as complaints about the film's historical accuracy.

Rather than dwell on the criticism, Nolan said he has learned to expect such reactions.

"But remember... I spent 10 years of my life dealing with Batman," he said.

Reflecting on his time directing Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, Nolan recalled how fans initially questioned several creative decisions, including the now-iconic casting of Heath Ledger as the Joker.

"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," he explained.

"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."

Ledger's performance ultimately earned widespread acclaim and a posthumous Academy Award, becoming one of the most celebrated portrayals in superhero film history.

Nolan said the success of his Batman trilogy reinforced his belief that audiences appreciate filmmakers who approach iconic stories with sincerity, even when their vision differs from fans' expectations.

"In the end, fans of the property—even when we were doing something that was not what they would have done—enjoyed the sincerity of the attempt to put as good a version of it on screen as we could," he said.

"All I can do is make the best film I possibly can in the most sincere way. It's very different from how anyone else would do it, but that's what adaptation is."

The Odyssey stars Matt Damon in the lead role alongside Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Jon Bernthal, Charlize Theron, John Leguizamo, Samantha Morton, Travis Scott, Elliot Page and Benny Safdie.

The highly anticipated film is scheduled to open in theaters on July 17.