Christopher Nolan has revealed that he found “a bit of Oppenheimer” in the ending of The Odyssey, during a conversation moderated by Robert Downey Jr.
Downey Jr., who won an Oscar for playing Lewis Strauss in Nolan’s Oppenheimer, hosted a Q&A about the new film.
Nolan said that while writing the ending, he “suddenly found a bit of Oppenheimer in there,” along with traces of his other films.
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His notebook, he said, described it as “the ending of all my films rolled into one.”
Downey Jr. said the director’s return to familiar themes never feels like repetition.
He described it as “concentric circles”, with each film exploring the same ideas more deeply. He also pointed to parallels between the endings of Oppenheimer and Dunkirk, including their burning imagery.
The ending of The Odyssey shows Odysseus leaving Ithaca with the memory of his actions at Troy, at a time when society’s boundaries seem to be breaking down.
That echoes Oppenheimer, whose lead character wrestles with guilt in a changed world.
Downey Jr. also had some fun at Nolan’s expense.
He jokingly questioned why he was never considered for The Odyssey, and teased the director for not contacting him.
He said he and Cillian Murphy have coined a term for how they feel. “We have ROMO, relief of missing out,” he said.
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