Iceland’s black-sand beaches represented Hades in The Odyssey (2026). The production filmed the underworld scenes in remote Icelandic locations, using their stark volcanic landscapes to create the bleak setting.
The Iceland shoot lasted ten days in late June 2025. Locations included Landeyjahöfn harbour, Hjörleifshöfði mountain, the Markarfljót river, and the Snæfellsnes peninsula. The black-sand beaches were especially important for the scenes set in the Greek underworld.
This choice illustrates the film’s worldwide production strategy. Although the story is rooted in ancient Greek mythology, Nolan used landscapes across several modern countries to represent different parts of Odysseus’s supernatural journey. Iceland’s volcanic terrain offered a visual contrast to the warmer Mediterranean locations used elsewhere.