Fans of the book series “Percy Jackson” will receive a special gift this holiday season; a new book-to-screen adaptation. On December 20th, the first two episodes of the television series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” will be released on Disney + with the rest of the episodes released weekly.
The series follows twelve-year-old Percy Jackson as he finds out that gods exist and he is a demigod, someone who is half-mortal and half-god. He is sent to Camp Half-Blood, a place where demigods learn about their parentage as well as how to survive in a world in which monsters hunt them. Then Percy is accused of stealing Zeus’ lightning bolt, so he and his friends must go on a dangerous quest.
“It tackles real-life issues and the troubles of a teenager’s life while also putting them in a way that young people can enjoy and understand,” sophomore Lillian Hawley said.
According to Entertainment Tonight, the actor for Percy Jackson was announced in April of 2022, although the search had begun almost a year before, with Walker Scobell getting the role.
“It was obvious to me and the rest of the team that Walker had the perfect mix of comedic timing, sweetness, rebelliousness, snark, and heroism to embody our hero, Percy Jackson,” author Rick Riordan said in a post on his blog.
Then, a month later, the actors for Grover Underwood and Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson’s friends, were announced with Aryan Simhadri and Leah Sava Jeffries being chosen. Although many were thrilled with this casting choice, according to Town and Country Magazine the choice to cast a Black actress for Annabeth did spark some controversy. Riordan called out those who were against the casting choice in a blog post titled “Leah Jeffries is Annabeth Chase.”
“Leah brings so much energy and enthusiasm to this role, so much of Annabeth’s strength. She will be a role model for new generations of girls who will see in her the kind of hero they want to be,” Riordan said “If you have a problem with this casting, however, take it up with me. You have no one else to blame.”
According to Town and Country Magazine, the godly additions to the cast include Lance Reddick as Zeus, Toby Stephens as Poseidon, Jay Duplass as Hades, Timothy Omundson as Hephaestus, Adam Copeland as Ares, and Lin-Manuel Miranda as Hermes.
“I like the diversity of the cast,” sophomore Morgan Veneziano said “But still it’s not about the look of the character; it’s about the character itself.”
Before this television series, there were two movies based on the “Percy Jackson” series that were released. But many people, including Riordan himself, believe that these movies were a poor representation of the books.
“I judge [the movies] from having read the scripts because I care most about the story,” Riordan said in a tweet that has since been deleted. “I certainly have nothing against the very talented actors. Not their fault. I’m just sorry they got dragged into that mess.”
The trailer for “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” was released on November 16th and includes scenes of Camp Half-Blood, snippets of dialogue between characters, and a cover of the song “Riptide”.
“I know that I’ll love the show if it turns out as good as the trailer looks,” Veneziano said.
