From the waves that clashed on a wooden ship, the dark clouds that arose by a god’s anger, and the air that no fate could ever move. In each time and these lands, a man sets foot with the same tale in hand. His ship would match each sail of his retelling, the only difference is how the minstrel blows the winds of the ships. At times, the winds pass a landmark to befit a better one or how a character may act, but maybe it could also be defined through song.
The Odyssey by Homer has been famous for its many retellings via translation or creative works due to its timeless themes and being one of the oldest works in the present time. Around 2019, a man who’s just trying to finish his senior thesis at his university, a man who’s just fighting, named Jorge Rivera-Herrans created a project at the University of Notre Dame with the adaptation in mind and titled it – Epic: The Musical. After his graduation, he continued to compose the musical and act on Odysseus’s parts. He posted on platforms like TikTok. By time in the 2020s, it slowly gained an audience and many auditioned as the voice of characters like Hermes voiced by Troy Doherty, Circe voiced by Talya Cindel, and Calypso voiced by Barbara Wangui.
On the internet, once its gaze is among the masses, sooner or later a knock is on the door. Last month, on April 22, 2026, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Epic: The Musical was being produced into an animated movie with the help of Jerry Bruckheimer, the producer behind Pirates of the Caribbean, who has partnered with Rivera-Herrans. The project is currently in its earliest stages of production and is being pitched by Creative Artists Agency (CAA) to streamers and studios.
The once niche audience that was only found in his socials grew to millions of views. Each song that dropped in the platform neared hundreds of millions and placed in the top 100 in iTunes to being in the Top 1. Before his partnership with any other music label, Rivera-Herrans kept his fans close and their words closer to his heart to continue. The creator proceeded to make his own company in 2023 titled, Winion Entertainment LLC.
Years before the movie was announced and to be created, animators could not help but wonder how the actions of these figures would go. Day and night, they wished to show and continue on with their pen’s stroke. In 2024 to 2025, many artists – gigi2820, DuvetBox, Neal Illustrator, zieru, Ximena Natzel and many more – posted their animatics online on YouTube garnering more attention for the creation of the musical. Each interpretation of the scene by the artists’ minds leak through the scenes by how the characters interact and even their styles showcase this. The YouTube user, Lynn Diavol, merged many of the animatics together similar to a movie and garnered 13 million views.
With the confirmation out in the open, fans were quick to speak and speculate about the news immediately on the platforms. The following day, Rivera-Herrans posted a heartwarming message on TikTok where he spoke of his journey – the fear and the stress – with his first post but was met with love and support by the community: “I truly believe that the greatest thing you can do to someone is believing in them,” he expressed.
Rivera-Herrans had a long journey ahead of him and he, like Odysseus, prolonged it with continuous creation of his work with the upcoming movie and another musical, Illium, also known as The Illiad by Homer as well. A long wait the fans will have to endure for the next production to come, ten or twenty years, yet they know their patience will be met with its precision.
Many adaptations have taken place within the story of the Odyssey, retelling after retelling, Rivera-Herrans is able to knock the ship of the Odyssey with a medium that always captivated the masses. The sound of music amplifies the characters’ exterior and lends us a hand to be ravished by their world. Epic: The Musical captivates its audience not just through the tale but also the voice that gnaws down the actor’s throat. Fans in 2025 showcased Epic: The Musical’s potential in the Philippines Ren Faire with their own enactment.
Come and sit down at the coliseum; hear the chorus once more from Rivera-Herrans as he plays with the minstrels who retell these old heroes' journeys. If it is not for the cycle or the gods' temper and heroes bargaining or the tragedy that is laid out from within or who becomes the lover in the tale, the minstrels could agree on the way it ends and differently it could sound, it still is the same old tale from Ancient Greece.
Written by Rio Kassiel Mañalac (Amnis De Ira), Insight PH
Rio Kassiel Mañalac (Amnis De Ira), Insight PH is a dedicated campus journalist and contributor. Their insightful writing sparks meaningful conversations and keeps the community informed.
