Were Paris, Hector, and Achilles Actually in Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’?

Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey‘ arrived in theaters as one of the most anticipated epics in years, and fans walked in with a very specific question on their minds. Did the film include the biggest names from the Trojan War itself, namely Paris, Hector, and Achilles, or did Nolan stick closer to Homer’s original text.

The answer is more complicated than a simple yes or no, and it says a lot about how Nolan chose to adapt this particular story.

Achilles and the Trojan War Speculation

For months before release, rumors swirled that Elliot Page had been secretly cast as Achilles, with fans convinced Nolan was hiding a major reveal. Once the film hit theaters, it was officially confirmed that Achilles does not appear in ‘The Odyssey’ at all, and the theory that Page played the legendary warrior turned out to be false.

There was also no secret casting of other Nolan regulars like Tom Hardy or Cillian Murphy in the role, despite fan speculation running wild. Page’s actual role turned out to be Sinon, a Greek soldier who helps pull off the Trojan horse scheme, a part far removed from the battlefield glory associated with Achilles.

Achilles is technically the central figure of Homer’s ‘Iliad’ rather than ‘The Odyssey’, where he only appears briefly, so his absence from Nolan’s film actually lines up with the source material. Given how much of the marketing leaned into Trojan War imagery, it is easy to see why so many assumed he would show up eventually, but Nolan seems to have kept his focus on Odysseus rather than expanding into Achilles’ story.

Paris, Helen, and the Roots of the War

Paris himself does not appear to have a confirmed casting or on screen presence in Nolan’s adaptation, but his role in the larger story is still referenced through Helen of Troy. Lupita Nyong’o plays Helen, and translations of the original epic differ on whether she was kidnapped by or eloped with Prince Paris of Troy, though her departure from Sparta is what set off the decade long war between the Greeks and Trojans.

That context matters because it shows Nolan is treating Paris as backstory rather than an active character in this particular film. The war itself, and everything that led to it including Paris and Helen, functions more as memory and motivation for Odysseus than as scenes audiences actually watch unfold.

Nyong’o also takes on a second role in the film, playing Helen’s sister Clytemnestra, the wife of Agamemnon. Translations again differ on how involved Clytemnestra was in her husband’s fate after he returned home from war, but the character adds another layer connecting the cast to the broader mythology surrounding the Trojan War.

Hector’s Absence from the Cast List

Hector, the Trojan prince and one of the most famous warriors in Greek mythology, does not appear among the confirmed roles for ‘The Odyssey’ either. The confirmed cast includes Matt Damon as Odysseus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Tom Holland as Telemachus, Charlize Theron as Circe, Zendaya as Athena, Robert Pattinson as Antinous, Mia Goth as Melantho, Benny Safdie as Agamemnon, Jon Bernthal as Menelaus, John Leguizamo as Eumaeus, and Himesh Patel as Eurylochus.

None of those confirmed roles line up with Hector, and there is no indication in casting reports that he was written into the film at all. That tracks with how ‘The Odyssey’ as a text works, since Hector’s death happens in the ‘Iliad’, long before Odysseus even begins his ten year journey home.

Nolan’s Focus on Odysseus Over the Trojan War Itself

The Odyssey follows Ithaca’s king Odysseus on his journey home after the Trojan War, a story estimated to have been written sometime between 750 and 650 B.C. That framing explains a lot about why Paris, Hector, and Achilles were left out or reduced to references rather than full characters.

The film is described as being fraught with storms, monsters, and plenty of twists as Odysseus is plagued by memories of the Trojan War and visions of the goddess Athena, played by Zendaya. That phrasing is telling, since it suggests the war exists in the film mostly as something haunting Odysseus rather than something audiences see play out in real time with its most famous warriors front and center.

Given how easily Nolan could have written Achilles into the story, keeping him out actually makes sense once you consider what ‘The Odyssey’ is actually about. The choice to sideline the Trojan War’s biggest names in favor of Odysseus’ personal journey seems deliberate rather than an oversight, and it fits a filmmaker known for tightly controlling his narratives.

So if you walked out of the theater wondering why you never got a big Hector versus Achilles showdown, now you know it was never really that kind of movie to begin with. What did you make of Nolan leaving Paris, Hector, and Achilles out of the main action, and do you think ‘The Odyssey’ would have benefited from giving the Trojan War itself more screen time?