Gen Z jump to Zendaya's defence as they blast Odyssey director Christopher Nolan for reducing her role to 'head-nodding bit part'

By DOLLY BUSBY, SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER Published: 23:58, 1 August 2026 | Updated: 00:01, 2 August 2026 He's the highly respected Oscar-winning film director whose movies have amassed a staggering £5 billion. But Sir Christopher Nolan has become a hate figure among Gen Z after the release of his latest blockbuster The Odyssey – standing accused of being sexist by self-appointed moral arbiters. Since the much-anticipated film was released three weeks ago, TikTok has been awash with fans lambasting Nolan, 56. They are furious over his portrayal of women in the three-hour epic. Nolan wrote the script and has been accused of giving female characters less depth than Homer's original text, with young feminists branding him 'the patriarchy's favourite movie director', with videos sharing such beliefs racking up millions of views and likes. Matt Damon, 55, plays Odysseus, the Greek king of Ithaca, who endures a long and perilous journey home after the Trojan War as he attempts to reunite with his wife Penelope [Anne Hathaway]. The main gripe revolves around Nolan's creative decisions for the goddess Athena, played by Hollywood star Zendaya, with viewers claiming Nolan reduced her to a 'head-nodding side character'. In Homer's text, it is pointed out, Athena is the second-most important role because she plays an active part in delivering Odysseus home by petitioning Zeus to allow him to return. But Spider-Man actress Zendaya, 29, appears on screen for less than five minutes while her husband Tom Holland's character, Telemachus, the son of Odysseus, has a more prominent part. And while Samantha Morton's portrayal of the goddess Circe was widely praised, fans pointed out that Odysseus spent a year captured by her, which was written out of the film completely. Matt Damon is Odysseus and Zendaya is Athena in Christopher Nolan's latest film, The Odyssey It is also claimed that Charlize Theron's Calypso provides only a 'foil' for the lead male character to tell the story. In one TikTok video that has been liked a million times, one young woman said: 'Christopher Nolan writes women as objects of male consciousness and this needs to be addressed. He is the patriarchy's favourite movie director. 'It's fascinating because his wife, his creative collaborator of 30 years, has produced every film he has made. But you never see the true essence of feminine interiority.' Another critic added: 'He doesn't imagine who women are outside the orbit of a man.' Examples referenced include Florence Pugh's and Emily Blunt's characters in Oppenheimer alongside Cillian Murphy. Others on the app have agreed and claim that none of Nolan's 13 feature-length films apart from Interstellar pass the 'Bechdel Test' – a Gen Z indicator for a feminist film where two women on screen talk to each other about something other than a man. Meanwhile, critic Angelica Bastien wrote for Vulture magazine: 'Writer-director Christopher Nolan's genius ends when a woman enters the frame.'