A few days before the premiere of his long-awaited adaptation of “The Odyssey,” Christopher Nolan addressed the controversy surrounding the film, calling previous criticism “irrelevant” and drawing on his experience with the “Batman” trilogy to defend his creative vision.

In an interview with The Telegraph, the British filmmaker responded to criticism about casting, the use of American accents and modern dialogue, as well as alleged historical inaccuracies that have generated an intense debate on social networks.

“It's inherent to the job,” Nolan said. “But look, these conversations that happen before people see the movie are always irrelevant, because no one who has them yet knows what the movie is really about.”

The director acknowledged that he knew from the beginning that adapting the Homeric poem would provoke strong opposition, but warned that he is already seasoned in this type of controversy.

Nolan turned to his decade directing The Dark Knight trilogy to contextualize his stance on criticism.

The lesson of “Batman” and Heath Ledger's Joker

"Remember, I spent 10 years of my life dealing with Batman. When I got to Batman, the writers and artists had been working on this beloved character for almost 65 years, and there were many conflicting opinions about what he represented," he recalled.

He added: "What I learned during my time on that trilogy is that you can't worry about any of that. What you have to do is honor the original text by interpreting it in the most compelling way possible."

The director recalled the skepticism he faced when he cast Heath Ledger as the Joker in “The Dark Knight.” At the time, the actor was known for romantic comedies like “10 Things I Hate About You” and many fans questioned the decision.

“In the end, the fans of the franchise, even when we did something that was not what they would have done, enjoyed the sincerity of the attempt to capture the best possible version on screen,” added Nolan, recalling that Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for his performance.

For the director, the lesson is clear: "The only thing I can do is make the best film possible in the most sincere way. It's very different from how anyone else would do it, but that's what adaptation is about."

Nolan also defended his decision to use modern dialogue and American accents, explaining that he sought to make Homer's story more accessible to contemporary audiences.

“When you look at the ancient world, people tend to see it in strange ways and there is a lot of cultural prejudice: it is given excessive importance just because it is ancient,” he explained to Channel 4 News.

He expressed: “When you approach the poem, what you find is something really earthy, rooted and accessible.”

The cast and reviews on social networks

The controversy reached its peak when figures such as Elon Musk and conservative commentator Matt Walsh criticized on the social network

Musk accused Nolan of “desecrating The Odyssey” and seeking Academy Awards “at any cost,” suggesting that casting decisions respond to inclusion criteria established by the Academy.