Tom Holland Jumps To The Odyssey's Defence Amid Debate Over Its Use Of Modern Language

The Spider-Man star plays Telemachus in Christopher Nolan's latest epic.

Tom Holland is the latest member of The Odyssey's cast and crew to defend the film's use of more modern language. Ahead of its release later this week, many have made an issue of Christopher Nolan's latest movie's untraditional approach to period storytelling, incorporating modern phrases into the Ancient Greek tale. One of the most notable instances of this came in the film's trailer, when Tom's character Telemachus was heard referring to his father, Odysseus, as "Dad".

However, while promoting the movie in a new interview with Channel 4 News, Tom brushed off the supposed controversy. "I wouldn't have even said 'father' back in the day, would I? It would've been Greek," the Spider-Man star pointed out.

Nolan also said that the debate proved people look at the past "in weird ways". "There's a lot of cultural prejudice," the Oscar winner suggested. "There's a lot of sort of elevating it, because it's old, you know, whatever it is."

He added that "when you go to the poem" on which his latest big-screen offering is based, "what you find is something that's really earthy and grounded and accessible", which he tried to replicate by using modern-day phrasing in his dialogue. The Oppenheimer director made a similar point during a recent interview with the LA Times to promote his latest work. "It might bite me on the ***, but I wanted an earthy narrative," he claimed.

"To me it was a no-brainer." Nolan's new movie boasts an all-star cast that includes everyone from Oscar winners Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway Lupita Nyong'o and Charlize Theron to Zendaya, Himesh Patel and Elliot Page. Early reactions to the film have been almost unanimously positive, with one performance in particular being singled out for praise on social media by those who have been able to watch the film at screenings.

The Odyssey hits cinemas on Friday 17 July.