Lupita Nyong'o Confirmed To Play The Odyssey's Helen Of Troy (with A Twist)

Marvel Studios

Christopher Nolan's upcoming epic fantasy, "The Odyssey," is as ambitious as it gets. We got a brisk first trailer at the end of last year, which set up high hopes for this artistic retelling to come. More recently, official footage from the film gave us a sneak peek into the toils of Odysseus (Matt Damon) who is doing his utmost to return home from the Trojan War, with Anne Hathaway's Penelope and Tom Holland's Telemachus awaiting his return at Ithaca. A ton of other A-listers (Robert Pattinson! Zendaya! Charlize Theron!) are a part of this momentous saga, alongside Lupita Nyong'o, who has been confirmed to play Helen of Troy — as well as her twin sister, Clytemnestra.

According to Time, Nolan is taking artistic leeway in the portrayal of the relationship (and reunion) between Helen and her husband, King Menelaus (Jon Bernthal). Deemed the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen's otherworldly beauty was held responsible for a war waged among men, triggered after her marriage to Paris of Troy. In Nolan's version of "The Odyssey," Nyong'o's Helen is sister to Clytemnestra (also Nyong'o), whose marriage to Menelaus' brother Agamemnon (Benny Safdie) is as rocky and toxic as it gets. It's unclear as to how these changes will re-contextualize our understanding of the Trojan War and the people involved in it, but it's safe to say that Nolan has a grand vision in mind.

Helen's perception within the context of "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" has always had misogynistic undertones. Similarly, Clytemnestra's characterization is complex and divisive in Aeschylus' "Oresteia" trilogy, which paints her as vicious and manipulative. These aspects allow Nolan to reinvent these characters through the lens of Odysseus' return, with Nyong'o being the perfect actor to convey the range demanded by these dual roles.