Christopher Nolan Christopher Nolan has weighed in on the backlash his new film The Odyssey was facing before a soul had even seen it. Released later this week, The Odyssey boasts an all-star cast that includes the likes of Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson and Zendaya. However, certain small-minded critics have taken issue with some of the movie’s casting choices. Most notably, the decision to have Lupita Nyong’o play Helen Of Troy in Nolan’s take on Homer’s Ancient Greek epic was met with racist backlash, while some also slammed the choice for Elliot Page to appear in the cast, reuniting the director and actor for the first time since the latter’s transition. During a new interview with The Telegraph, the Oscar-winning director made it clear that this kind of discourse doesn’t really get to him, as it “comes with the territory”. Christopher Nolan with the cast of The Odyssey at the film's London premiere “These conversations that happen before people see the film – they’re always irrelevant, because no one having them knows what the film actually is yet,” he claimed. Nolan also pointed out that, earlier on in his career, he “spent 10 years of my life dealing with Batman”, meaning he’s well-versed in these kinds of debates. “When I came on to Batman Begins, writers and artists had been working on this beloved character for almost 65 years, and a lot of freighted thoughts were out there about what he represents,” he said. “And what I learnt over my time on that trilogy is you can’t worry about any of that at all. What you have to do is honour the original text by interpreting it in the strongest way you personally can.” He concluded: “All I can do is make the best film I possibly can in the most sincere way. It’s very different from how anyone else would do it, but that’s what adaptation is.” Praising Lupita Nyong’o’s work in his latest film, the Oppenheimer director told Elle earlier this year: “The strength and the poise were so important to the character of Helen. And Lupita makes it look effortless. “I’m sure there’s a tremendous amount of discipline and training that goes into projecting that kind of poise and feeling the emotion bubbling beneath the character, the layers of the character right there underneath. She’s just an incredible person to work with, and I was absolutely desperate for her to do the part.” More recently, he has also responded to the polarised takes on The Odyssey’s approach to historical accuracy – including the inclusion of modern dialogue in the film. The Odyssey hits cinemas on Friday 17 July. READ MORE: Can't Wait For The Odyssey? Everything We Know About The Christopher Nolan Epic There's Good News And Bad News For Anyone Worried About The Odyssey's Epic Runtime All The Red Carpet Photos You Need To See From The Odyssey's Star-Studded Premiere