Elon Musk’s plan to produce a fully AI-generated version of The Odyssey has already become comedy material, and Colman Domingo did not waste the opportunity.
During a blistering takedown, Domingo mocked Musk’s promise to make a “historically accurate” adaptation of Homer’s ancient epic through Grok Imagine, the billionaire’s artificial intelligence platform.
“Now Elon Musk is planning to create what he calls a ‘historically accurate’ version of The Odyssey using his Grok AI. And by ‘historically accurate,’ he means whiter than Christmas at Cracker Barrel.”
Domingo kept going, zeroing in on the obvious problem with Musk’s pitch. Homer’s story is mythology, packed with gods, monsters, sirens, witches, cyclopes and supernatural events that were never presented as documented history.
“You can’t make a historically accurate version of something that is totally made the f*** up. The Odyssey is fiction… like The Hunger Games, or the president’s cognitive exams.”
Musk has positioned his prospective film as an answer to Christopher Nolan’s theatrical adaptation, which he repeatedly criticized as “woke” because of its diverse casting. His attacks focused heavily on Lupita Nyong’o playing Helen of Troy and Elliot Page appearing as Sinon. Musk later pinned a three-minute AI-generated preview on X and claimed his version would remain “true to the art of Homer.”
The response from filmmakers, critics and classicists was immediate. Many pointed out that racial purity arguments make little sense when applied to a fantasy poem populated by demigods, magical creatures and characters born through supernatural circumstances. Director Scott Derrickson was among the Hollywood voices openly ridiculing the idea.
Domingo closed his criticism by questioning why one of the world’s most powerful technology executives was spending his time fighting over the casting of a Greek myth.
“Doesn’t Elon Musk have better things to do? Wasn’t this b-tch supposed to be on Mars by now?”
Nyong’o has shown little interest in entertaining the backlash, saying the cast represents the world and that criticism will exist regardless of whether she engages with it.
Musk has denied accusations of racism and antisemitism, arguing that his criticism is aimed at diversity, equity and inclusion policies. Critics and civil rights organizations continue to accuse him of amplifying far-right figures, anti-immigrant rhetoric and racial narratives through his online platform.
Meanwhile, Nolan’s The Odyssey is already enjoying the kind of success Musk’s AI experiment will eventually have to answer. The film opened with $123.5 million domestically and $139.6 million internationally for a massive $264.1 million global debut, the biggest worldwide opening of Nolan’s career.
While Musk promises an AI-generated feature by the end of 2026, Nolan’s version has already turned the ancient journey into a modern box office event.
