Elon Musk’s AI-Generated ‘The Odyssey’ Gets Torn Apart by Critics and Viewers

Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ has been one of the biggest success stories of the year, grossing more than $1.78 billion worldwide and becoming the highest-grossing film of the director’s career. But not everyone was a fan of his take on Homer’s epic.

Over the summer, Elon Musk repeatedly criticized Nolan’s film and labeled it ‘woke’. Earlier this year, he also suggested Nolan had lost his integrity after seeing reports about Lupita Nyong’o’s casting as Helen of Troy.

Musk didn’t stop at criticism. He promised that his AI platform, Grok, would generate a full-length version of ‘The Odyssey’ by the end of the year, pitching it as historically accurate and true to the art of Homer.

The first piece of that project has now arrived. Over the weekend, a 7-minute first episode of the AI-generated retelling was released on X, created with Grok Imagine in collaboration with AI specialists Wonder Studios and director Dev Walker.

The release was billed as the start of an ‘Odyssey’ series rather than a finished film. However, the response has been far from what Musk might have hoped. The reviews have been brutal. As The Hollywood Reporter highlighted, a critic for The Telegraph described the footage as zombie-like, singling out the characters’ glassy eyes and expressionless voices.

Watch Episode 1 of our Odyssey series made with Grok Imagine. Let us know in the comments if you’d like a full breakdown of how it was done! Creative collaboration with @WonderStudiosX and director Dev Walker @glumlot_ https://t.co/xpgpkqSCpq
— Grok Imagine (@imagine) October 23, 2026

Telegraph critic Ed Power called the episode unsettling in its sloppy gruesomeness and pointed out that Penelope appears to look completely different from scene to scene. He concluded that this take on the tale of Troy deserves to be buried forever.

The review did offer one compliment. Power noted that the battle sequences capture some of the epic quality of Zack Snyder’s ‘300’, and he joked that the AI version is one of the few films this year not to feature Tom Holland and Zendaya, who both star in Nolan’s version.

The criticism wasn’t limited to professional reviewers. Even on Musk’s own platform, the episode was widely mocked, with the most upvoted reply beneath the official post bluntly dismissing it as terrible.

The final trailer for Christopher Nolan’s ‘THE ODYSSEY’ has been released. In theaters on July 17. https://t.co/xn42TcX4aG
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) July 1, 2026

Other users called it soulless, while some argued that impressive visuals couldn’t make up for a flat and clichéd script. Many also pointed out the lack of the historical authenticity Musk had promised.

Not every reaction was negative. Some viewers praised the relative photorealism of the footage, noting how quickly AI video generation has advanced in just a few years. The release adds an interesting layer to the ongoing debate about artificial intelligence in filmmaking. Nolan has been an outspoken critic of generative AI, telling The Telegraph in July that younger audiences are quick to recognize and reject AI-generated content.

The reception to Musk’s project seems to support that view. Even with eye-catching moments, many viewers focused on the visual glitches and emotional emptiness rather than the technology itself.

For Wonder Studios and Walker, the release serves as an experiment in what Grok Imagine can achieve. It remains unclear how many episodes will follow or whether a full-length version will arrive by the end of the year as promised.

For now, the contrast could hardly be sharper. Nolan’s film continues to dominate the box office and awards conversation, while its AI-generated rival is struggling to win over even its own platform’s audience.