Elon Musk‘s vow to outdo Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece, “The Odyssey,” has come back to bite him big time.
The tech trillionaire mogul led the backlash against the highly anticipated adaptation of the classic ancient Greek poem, finding fault with the casting of stars like Lupita Nyong’o.
Now, Musk has unveiled the first look at his own creation, and those who cheered on his criticism are leading the campaign, calling it an extreme flop.
Elon Musk’s Grok Releases Episode One Of ‘The Odyssey’ AI
Over the weekend, the first seven minutes of Musk’s AI Take on the Homer poem was released on X. The project was made in collaboration with Wonder Studios and director Dev Walker, as revealed in the caption.
With super-realistic scenes, the clip has since garnered over seven million views and over 20,000 likes. However, the comments are a far cry from what the metrics say.
Although comments praised the video quality for how realistic it looked, given it is completely an AI-take, many lamented the lack of emotion in the characters and how glitchy it looked.
Musk has yet to comment on his project, simply quoting the post to spread it to a much larger audience.
Fans Tear Apart Elon Musk’s ‘Soulless’ Project
However, his silence hasn’t stopped an army of X users from heavily bashing the clip. “Perfectly encapsulates Elon’s taste. Absolute sh-t,” one fan slammed.
Going into detail about what was wrong, this user wrote, “Sort of soulless. Clearly no one who made this has ever been on a sailboat. The only good thing was that it was so dark that you couldn’t see how terrible it looked.”
More criticism rolled in, describing it as “AI garbage slop,” while this fan mocked Musk’s boastful plans to make a more historically accurate version.
“It’s gonna be historically accurate. Belt buckles, Medieval tunics and late Roman cloaks, Romanesque arches, zero Greek or Mycenaean mural paintings, everyone is dirty all the time… this is the worst kind of slop,” it read.
This review read, “This is as bad as a Zack Snyder movie. Tone was all over the fucking place. @elonmusk, who knew your AI machine is a terrible fucking director!!! Slop.”
The Tesla CEO Vowed To ‘Outdo’ Nolan’s Work
Musk’s AI take of “The Odyssey” was released less than four months after he first shared his intention, promising to sweep viewers out of the water.
“Before this year ends, Grok Imagine will make a full-length movie of The Odyssey that is historically accurate and true to the art of Homer,” he wrote at the time, per The Blast.
However, his plans weren’t met with much approval as fans pointed out that it was impossible to do a “historically accurate” version of something that was fiction to begin with.
Even filmmaker Scott Derrickson of “Doctor Strange” chimed in on the discussion, slamming Musk’s opinions as “worthless.”
What Did Musk Not Like About ‘The Odyssey’?
The bone of contention for the SpaceX founder came from Nolan’s decision to cast Nyong’o for the crucial role of Helen of Troy. The actress also doubled as Helen’s sister, Clytemnestra, who married Agamemnon.
Given Helen of Troy’s reputation as the most beautiful woman in Greek mythology, conservative commentator Matt Walsh argued online that Nyong’o wasn’t the right choice.
According to Walsh, Nolan seemingly opted for the “12 Years A Slave” actress to be “woke” and avoid the wrath of those who might attack him as racist.
Musk agreed with the point of view, also arguing that the famed director was chasing Oscar requirements over staying true to the historical story.
Lupita Nyong’o Fires Back At Elon Musk
Following the intense criticism spearheaded by the mogul and his supporters, Nyong’o finally spoke out during an interview.
The actress declared her support for Nolan’s artistic choice, saying, “Our cast is representative of the world. I’m not spending my time thinking of a defense. The criticism will exist whether I engage with it or not.”
She also noted that her value as a performer shouldn’t be based entirely on beauty metrics.
