Christopher Nolan’s Cyclops in ‘The Odyssey’ Was Inspired by This Director

I’m absolutely hyped for The Odyssey. I’m going to have to move heaven and Earth to see it in a theater, as it is three hours long and I have twin children who aren’t old enough to see it yet, but I will do so, and it feels apt, given the film. Hell, if I can swing it, the plan is to see it in 70MM, as Nolan intended, which will involve trekking from Jersey City to the Lincoln Square AMC, which should be easy, but isn’t. But my resolve will hold, especially so I can see that big ole Cyclops.

A lot has been exciting about Christopher Nolan’s new film, from the sets to the cast to the action, but man oh man, does that one-eyed fella look fantastic and scary as hell. It also potentially shows that Nolan won’t shy away from the more fantastical aspects of the story. I think it would be foolish to try to do so, as the story has many fantastical elements, but ya never know. With how the Cyclops looks, I’m more than ready to see Nolan turn men into pigs.

I’m especially gung-ho for Nolan’s take on the strange and mystical because he has taken inspiration from a director who eats, sleeps, and breathes such elements: Guillermo del Toro. Nolan recently revealed that, when developing the Cyclops, he treated it with care and consideration, much like Del Toro does with his monsters. At this point, the majority of the leads in Del Toro’s films have been monsters, and if you want to do that, you can’t just treat them like any old beast.

“I was very inspired by Guillermo del Toro,” Nolan explained to the Los Angeles Times (via the Independent). “What I learned from him is that a monster is not a monster. You have to approach them the way you approach any other character.” The Cyclops isn’t going to join Odysseus on his journey (unless I’m severely misremembering the story), but if he is imbued with personality, even for a couple of scenes, he’s definitely going to be memorable.

Nolan’s Odyssey hits theaters in the U.S. next week, and it may not come as a surprise to learn that the tickets at the Lincoln Square AMC I plan on visiting are mostly sold out. There’s even a 10 AM showing on a Wednesday, a week after release, that is completely sold out. Absolutely wild. Granted, I’m in the NJ/NYC area, but that could still bode well for Nolan’s latest epic and that one-eyed thicc boy who is probably driving those ticket sales (maybe he can get on White Lotus next).