Parijat Ghosh 
Brace yourself because the prologue to Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey just slipped out online, and fans cannot stop talking about it. A rare early look at Nolan’s mythic epic has given us tension, drama, swords, sweat, and one of the most immersive sequences Nolan has ever delivered on screen. Here’s how it goes:
The Odyssey Prologue: A Spartan Story Before the Story
Opening scene: It begins with King Menelaus (husband of Helen) recounting the famous story of the Trojan Horse from his perspective. At his Spartan dining room palace, he says to Telemachus, ”But did you hear it from the inside?” (In other words, he’s saying…did you hear about the horse story from what it was like being inside the horse because I was there).
It then cuts to the inside of the giant hollowed out wooden horse and we hear rhythmic clanking and cranking and watch-like ticking sounds emanating from the horse which is being dragged out of the Mediterranean Sea and onto the shore while Odysseus and his men (stacked on one another and bracing one another for balance and using wooden hollow pipes to breath under all the water that has entered the interior of the horse) are adjusting to the movement inside the horse, creating this incredibly stressful and tense feeling.
Trojans, Swords, and a Very Close Call
We then see and hear the sounds of the hundreds of Trojan slaves pulling the horse with ropes along wooden logs along the beach and then the scene quickly transitions to the horse continuing to be dragged by the Trojan slaves along logs right outside the city walls of Troy with a few Trojan warriors on white horses monitoring this monumental task of pulling the horse into their walled city. We continue to hear the clanking and soft drumbeat music that is gaining momentum, and we get shots of Odysseus and Menelaus and the dirtied and sweating men from within the horse, continuing to brace one another during all the rough shifts and turns.
Suddenly, a sword pierces into the interior of the horse, almost hitting some of the men. Then one of the sword pierces stabs into the back of one of the men but Menelaus covers the man’s mouth so he doesn’t yell out in agony while another one of Odysseus’s quick-witted men gently grabs the pierced sword and holds onto it, wiping the blood off the sword while the Trojan soldier quickly yanks back the sword, ensuring that the Trojan soldier standing outside the horse doing the piercing doesn’t suspect anything.
We then see some Trojans using a rope around the neck of the horse, tying it to a stone-pillared white building structure and lifting it upright to position the horse as if it’s kicking up into the air, where the horse is only on its back hind legs (while a Trojan citizen can be heard yelling “For Athena!!). It then cuts back to Odysseus and his men uncomfortably piled on one another at the base of the horse’s interior, given its tilt.
The scene then cuts to evening, and we see torch lights under the pillared structure and around the horse with a few Trojan soldiers patrolling and standing guard in the area. We then see a rope descending out from under the horse, then a wooden box being lowered to the ground (tied to the rope), which is likely carrying their weapons. We then see Odysseus, Menelaus and the men descend down the rope and they take the guards by surprise, wrestling them to the ground and killing them using the Trojan spears in some of the kills.
Odysseus Leads the Charge Into Troy
Next, we see Odysseus with a sword walking and descending stairs with Menelaus. They then begin to run towards the front gates and the front walled area. One of Odysseus’s men provides cover and shoots an arrow at one of the Trojan guards patrolling at the top of the wall. Then Menelaus and Odysseus climb the steps. When Odysseus reaches the top, he grabs one of the torch lights and drops it over the wall in front of his Greek army (led by Agamemnon) that has gathered outside the city gates.
We then hear the loud banging and clattering of the Trojan metal security bell mechanism being struck with an instrument by a Trojan guard who is trying to alert the Trojan army to dispatch to the scene, given the breach and threat of the Greek forces. We then see multiple Trojan soldiers arriving and converging towards Odysseus as his men (as Ludwig’s drumbeat music get louder and more intense). We see Odysseus and his men fighting and killing Trojan soldiers right in front of the gates. Odysseus uses his bow, shooting arrows and kills Trojan soldiers while his men get into a formation line, protecting the gates, while a few of the men behind the formation line begin to rotate the wooden lever contraption that controls the two massive and long sliding pieces of wood that keep the gates closed.
As the pieces of wood are slowly sliding outward, additional Trojan soldiers arrive, and Odysseus begins shooting more arrows, killing more men. Menelaus even throws a spear into one of the Trojan soldiers (while Ludwig’s drumbeat music and distorted sounds intensify and build momentum). The pieces of wood holding the gate finally clear and Odysseus’s men open the gates and we see a massive fully silvery armored Greek soldier in a fully face-covered helmet behind the gates—it’s Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek forces!—and then we witness all the Greek soldiers charging forward from behind Agamemnon and they storm into the city yelling and roaring with their shields and swords. We also see Odysseus and Menelaus yelling in support of their forces. Agamemnon then walks into the city looking fierce, an intimidating figure for sure (while the loud drum pounding plays loudly.
A Very Nolan Twist at the End
Then, it cuts back to Menelaus talking with Telemachus at his Spartan palace dining room, and Menelaus, who has just recounted this sack of Troy scene, says to Telemachus, ”I think you know the rest.”
We then hear a loud drumbeat, and it quickly cuts to a blue misty scene where some soldiers get blown into the air from some kind of explosion. Then we hear another loud drumbeat, and it quickly cuts to 5 soldiers in bulky, heavy-looking, shiny, silvery armor walking through a forest with massive swords. Then we get another loud drumbeat, and it quickly cuts to the interior of a dark cave where we glimpse the creepy-looking Cyclops (Polyphemus), who is briefly seen in the shadows (can’t make out his one eye). He is holding one of Odysseus’s men in his right hand (probably about to eat him). Then we get another loud drumbeat, and it cuts to the 07.17.26 logo, then another loud drumbeat and cuts to the IMAX logo, then one final loud drumbeat, and it cuts to “The Odyssey” logo.”
This isn’t just another teaser leak. It gives us a glimpse of Nolan’s biggest, most immersive project yet. The film is scheduled for theatrical release on July 17, 2026. So, hold your horses, because this movie is LITERALLY going to be larger than life.
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