Reports of transgender actor Elliot Page — formerly Ellen — playing Achilles in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film, The Odyssey, have sparked fierce backlash. “You could have paid me to tank this movie and I wouldn’t have thought of this,” actor Kevin Sorbo reacted.
While Page’s role in Nolan’s retelling of Homer’s The Odyssey — set to debut in theaters on July 17 — has yet to be officially confirmed, the Juno star is known to be in the movie, according to a report by the video gaming and entertainment website IGN.
“The trailer might’ve given away who the actor is playing: Achilles, the tragic hero from The Iliad who Odysseus encounters in the Underworld as a ghost,” the outlet reported.
IGN added that “while this isn’t confirmed yet to be the character Page is playing, it seems like a good bet.”
“If Elliot Page is playing Achilles, this will be the biggest bomb of Christopher Nolan’s career. It’ll be meme’d to death before it ever comes out,” documentary filmmaker Robby Starbuck wrote in a Saturday X post, reacting to the news.
“You can’t go from Brad Pitt as Achilles to a confused woman and expect an audience to take it seriously,” Starbuck added.
Actor Kevin Sorbo, meanwhile, quipped, “You could have paid me to tank this movie and I wouldn’t have thought of this.”
“Incoming mega-flop that will be made fun of for all times,” the popular X account Catturd echoed.
“You might say casting a 5’1, 105 pound girl pretending to be a boy as one of the mightiest warriors in Greek lore is going to be this film’s Achilles’ Heel,” another reacted.
“We all died from Covid and are in hell,” another X user joked.
Another simply commented, “The cinema died for real,” while another said, ”
“When they make a movie about any other culture all the characters have to be accurate or the movie is racist. But for European culture, a black and a [trans] can be Greek figures and if you don’t like it, you’re racist,” another pointed out.
In addition to Page, the X user was commenting on another rumor that black actress Lupita Nyong’o might play Helen of Troy in the upcoming film.
“Dang. Did Christopher Nolan really just ruin his perfect career?” another asked.
“Is The Odyssey going to ruin Christopher Nolan’s legacy?” another X user inquired.
Another remarked that casting “a trans actor to play Achilles, a demigod with long blond hair and unmatched strength” would mean “this movie is getting worse and worse.”
As for the other actors cast to play characters in the upcoming The Odyssey film, Matt Damon will star as Odysseus, Tom Holland will play Telemachus, Jon Bernthal is set to portray King Menelaus, and Charlize Theron will play Calypso, IGN noted.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.