This is a SPOILER-FREE discussion about Percy Jackson and the Olympians!
It’s been a long time coming, but the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is almost (finally) here! If you’re a longtime fan of the series like me, chances are you might be managing your expectations about the upcoming show on the 2023 TV schedule. Because let’s face it, the last time we got an adaptation of The Lightning Thief, there were too many differences between the book and movie to count. However, as someone who saw the first few episodes early, I must say, this time, get excited!
Over a decade ago, when 20th Century Fox adapted the first two Percy Jackson books, the filmmakers didn't have one vital secret weapon: Rick Riordan. The author behind the bestselling book series famously was not on board with the many decisions the filmmakers made that diverted from the source material, and the Percy Jackson film series joined the franchises that got cancelled before they made all the movies. If you’ve been worried about being disappointed about another adaptation of the beloved series, I have good news. Let me get into why I’m loving the Disney+ series so far.
The Casting Of Age Appropriate Actors In Percy Jackson Makes All The Difference
While I actually thought that Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario and Brandon T. Jackson were decent picks for their roles and the movies themselves had a ton of great casting decisions, including Pierce Brosnan as Chiron, Sean Bean as Zeus and Uma Thurman as Medusa, this series really shows why they made a mistake by casting older actors from the jump. Much like the Harry Potter movies, Percy Jackson beginning his journey as a 12-year-old is a really distinctive choice that is important to the storytelling of The Lightning Thief and carries over into the rest of the series. The Disney+ show made it a point to cast the right actors who are the correct ages, and it seriously does make all the difference.
I can confirm Walker Scobell is an excellent pick as Percy and well matched by his quest mates, Leah Jeffries’ Annabeth and Aryan Simhadri’s Grover. It takes a bit of time to settle into their dynamic, but there’s a lot of story and lore to set up all at once. By around episode 3 or 4, I was all in on the trio, and I can’t help but get excited about the idea of watching these actor grow up with these characters and develop them across multiple seasons in a unique way we’ve only seen a few times with Harry Potter or even Stranger Things, for example.
The Percy Jackson’s Sets And Monsters Are Really Well Done
When it comes to streaming shows and VFX, I find the results to be varying. When Percy Jackson was announced as a TV show, I was excited by having more time with the characters, but at the same time, that presented a worry that perhaps it wouldn’t match the scale of Rick Riordan’s rich Greek mythology world. After seeing a few episodes of the show, I can say I’m really impressed with the production value of the series from multiple angles.
It was reported that Disney+ decided to “spare no expense” on Percy Jackson and the Olympians, matching its scale to the likes of The Mandalorian, and I really felt that watching the series. Camp Half Blood in particular is a really gorgeous and epic setting, and all the monsters we meet along the way are really intentionally designed and gloriously adapted for television. A lot of the show feels like it’s made with practical settings, and I particularly love the theme music and title cards. It’s a show I know I (and other fans) are going to be excited to turn on every week during its December and January premieres.
I’m Also Really Enjoying The Pacing Of The Series
Additionally, now that I’m experiencing The Lightning Thief as a series, I totally understand why Rick Riordan pushed for it to be a TV show rather than another film series. The way a lot of the storytelling is set up beautifully works out for the pacing of a weekly series. Especially because as Percy, Annabeth and Grover take a “quest” of a roadtrip from New York to Los Angeles, they stop in different cities and meet a “creature of the week” in a sense, whilst the series itself pushes forward like an entire storyline of a movie.
As is true with so many books, two hours is simply not enough time to adapt the contents in a novel, and I love that Rick Riordan fought for a series because his series is so beloved and deserves more time to flesh out its expansive universe of Greek Gods. It also offers a lot more opportunities for character building, and I'm excited for the entire Percy Jackson series cast to shine throughout the series with a guest star format, including the anticipation of seeing Lin-Manuel Miranda playing Hermes later in the season.
And, Percy Jackson Could Fill A Gap On Disney+ Content
The last spoiler-free point I’ll make about the upcoming Percy Jackson show is in regards to my Disney+ subscription. As a massive Disney fan, yes, it’s a no-brainer that I have the streaming service, but I share some Star Wars and Marvel fatigue, and otherwise, besides some Disney Animation/Pixar gems made exclusively for the streaming service, I feel like there’s not enough original content from the streamer for which to get excited. The addition of Percy Jackson is a great addition to diversify the family content on the service and perhaps launch an entirely new universe, considering Riordan has a ton of book series as well that could be adapted for TV if his relationship with Disney+ continues to thrive.
After seeing this first few episodes of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, I genuinely cannot wait to geek out with other fans of the series about the show and delve back into my childhood love for Rick Riordan’s books. The first two episodes are coming to Disney+ and Hulu on Wednesday, December 20.
