Seth Meyers Ridicules Right-Wing Attack on Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey”

During a recent episode of *Late Night with Seth Meyers*, the host lampooned the right-wing backlash against Christopher Nolan’s big-budget adaptation of the ancient epic *The Odyssey*. He highlighted how commentators had dismissed the film as a “commie woke-fest” because of its diverse casting, then mocked Elon Musk’s claim that he would produce a “historically accurate” version of the movie using his AI tool Grok.

The Guardian

The controversy began when Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o was announced to portray Helen of Troy, a role traditionally depicted as a white figure in popular retellings. Right-leaning pundits framed the casting as an example of “woke” cultural engineering, accusing the production of prioritizing diversity over fidelity to the source material. Elon Musk entered the fray, publicly stating his intention to remake the film with AI assistance, prompting Meyers’ sarcastic response.

The Guardian

Despite the criticism, *The Odyssey* opened to a worldwide box-office haul of $264 million in its first weekend, contradicting the “woke-fails” narrative.

The Guardian

He also contrasted the film’s success with the right’s inaccurate war predictions, referencing former President Donald Trump’s dismissive remarks about the Iran conflict. Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff’s questioning of Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth over claims of Iran’s military defeat was noted as another example of political hyperbole, which Meyers characterized as living in “a bubble” and “an alternate reality.”

The Guardian

• “How dare you cast popular actors in fictional roles in a movie adaptation of a poem written 2,700 years ago,” — Seth Meyers

The Guardian

• “I can’t wait for that to suck,” — Seth Meyers

The Guardian

• “It’s a myth! Are you also making a historically accurate version of The Santa Clause?” — Seth Meyers

The Guardian