Tom Holland Says 'The Odyssey' Had to Stop Filming Over Giant 'My Little Pony' Rainbow

Tom Holland has reportedly revealed that filming on Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' had to be paused after a huge rainbow appeared in the background of a crucial scene and made the moment look far more cartoonish than intended.

The actor recalled the unusual interruption in an interview with Empire, explaining that the scene was meant to show his character returning to a castle. Instead, nature delivered something that did not quite match the tone of Nolan's mythological epic.

'The most preposterous rainbow was coming out of the castle I was supposed to be going home to,' Holland said. 'It looked like something out of My Little Pony.'

The image may have been beautiful in real life, but on camera it apparently clashed with the serious scale and mood of the film. Production was temporarily stopped until the shot could continue without the colourful distraction.

Fans Joke About the 'Rainbow Cut'

The detail quickly caught attention online, where fans turned the behind-the-scenes problem into a joke at Nolan's expense.

'#ReleaseTheRainbowCut,' one X user posted, playing on the kind of fan campaigns usually reserved for alternate versions of superhero films. Others suggested the rainbow might have been exactly what a Nolan film needed.

'So Christopher Nolan hates fun and whimsy?' one user joked.

Another wrote: 'Nature itself tried to intervene to add some colour into it.'

The jokes worked because Nolan is widely associated with serious, large-scale filmmaking, practical effects and carefully controlled visuals. A bright rainbow bursting out of a castle was not exactly the kind of image audiences expect from the director of 'Oppenheimer,' 'Dunkirk' and 'The Dark Knight.'

Holland Also Feared Nolan Hated His Acting

The rainbow was not the only awkward moment Holland experienced while adjusting to Nolan's methods. The actor recently admitted that, on his first day shooting 'The Odyssey,' he worried Nolan disliked his performance because the director kept calling cut.

In reality, the issue had nothing to do with Holland's acting.

'Working with the Imax cameras for the first time is an experience,' Holland explained. 'It is unlike anything I have ever seen before, and I didn't know that it only ran for three minutes.'

Holland said he turned to co-star Jon Bernthal in confusion as Nolan repeatedly stopped filming.

'In my head, I was like, 'Does he not like what we're doing? What is happening?'' he said.

He later learned from stunt coordinator George Cottle that the Imax camera magazine could only run for around three minutes at a time.

'I was like, 'Oh, thank god,'' Holland recalled. 'I thought I was totally shitting the bed in this scene.'

A Star-Studded Odyssey

Holland plays Telemachus, the son of Matt Damon's Odysseus, in Nolan's adaptation of the ancient Greek epic. The cast also includes Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, Elliot Page, Benny Safdie, Mia Goth and John Leguizamo.

Despite the early nerves and the unexpected rainbow, Holland has spoken warmly about the experience. In another recent interview, he called working with Nolan 'the best experience I've had on a film set.'

He praised Nolan and producer Emma Thomas, saying he had never seen anyone work the way they do.

For Holland, the rainbow may have briefly derailed filming, but the larger experience appears to have been anything but a disaster.