Now might be the perfect time to re-read Rick Riordan’s “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” books before the adaptation arrives on Disney+ at the end of the year. For this show, only the main foundation series (and maybe just the first book) are required reading before Camp Halfblood comes to life on the small screen.
The first two episodes of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” arrive December 20 on the streamer, followed one new episode per week. Christmas will be to “Percy Jackson” fans as Thanksgiving will be to “Hunger Games” fans, with “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” film adaptation arriving in theaters November 17. We’re here for the YA literary revival!
But back to Greek gods, demigods and monsters — here’s everything we know about the upcoming “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” Disney+ series:
Is “Percy Jackson” author Rick Riordan involved?
Author Rick Riordan has dropped hints here and there about what’s to be expected of this first season of the television series.
“It’s going to be, hopefully, one season for every book, which gives us time to do justice to the entire story, as opposed to a movie where you have to make some cuts,” Riordan told TheWrap during the D23 Expo in 2022.
Thus, it looks like Season 1, which contains eight episodes, will cover the events of “The Lightning Thief,” the first book in the original quintet. From the characters mentioned below (and the teaser trailers), we can at least expect the harpy attack and the encounter with Medusa that Percy has in the book.
Riordan wrote the first two episodes with Jon Steinberg and James Bobin directed them. Steinberg and Dan Shotz serve as executive producers alongside Riordan, his wife Rebecca, The Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Bert Salke, The Gotham Group’s Jeremy Bell and D.J. Goldberg, James Bobin, Jim Rowe, Monica Owusu-Breen, Anders Engström and Jet Wilkinson.
Will the show include Riordan’s newer “Percy Jackson” books?
Riordan just published the newest installment in the “Percy Jackson & the Olympians” series, “The Chalice of the Gods,” in which Percy has to complete three quests for three letters of recommendation from Mount Olympus for college. His senior year of high school just got a lot more complicated.
When Riordan spoke with TheWrap on the Chicago stop of his “Chalice of the Gods” book tour, he couldn’t say for sure whether this installment of Percy’s life will make it into the television series.
“That is just too far down the horizon to know the answer to. I don’t know,” he said. “I mean, right now we’re just focusing on season one. And if it does well, who knows? You know, the kids are totally excited. Even after all the work they’ve done, they’re still really excited to get back to it, so I know they’re looking forward to whatever is going to come and we’ll just have to wait and see.”
After the first five books in the original series, Riordan also wrote “The Heroes of Olympus” series in which Percy and his friends from the Greek Camp Halfblood in Long Island overlap with the Roman demigods who hail from Camp Jupiter In San Francisco. The quintet starting with “The Lightning Thief” will be the focus of the new Disney+ series.
“I would consider a major victory if we were able to get five good seasons of television,” Riordan said. “These days, that’s enough of a rare success. If we’re able to capture the whole Percy Jackson original series and five seasons of television, that’s awesome. And anything after that would be gravy.”
Who stars in the “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” cast?
Walker Scobell, who broke into Hollywood with his role in “The Adam Project” alongside Ryan Reynolds, will play the titular demigod and son of Poseidon. Leah Sava Jeffries will bring Athena’s daughter Annabeth to life, and Aryan Simhadri will portray Grover, Percy’s secret satyr bodyguard.
“Even before we cast [Scobell, Jeffries and Simhadri], we had a lot of conversations with our team about how our primary goal needs to be to support the young actors to make sure they feel valued and safe and productive,” Riordan told TheWrap at his Chicago book tour stop for “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Chalice of the Gods.”
“And that they have the village of people around them, helping them and that our main job is to make sure that they’re okay and they’re feeling good about what they’re doing. Because it’s a really hard job. And it is a lot of pressure to put on a 12-year-old or a 14-year-old.”
Here’s the rest of the revealed lineup of the “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series cast:
- Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson
- Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth Chase
- Aryan Simhadri as Grover Underwood
- Virginia Kull as Sally Jackson, Percy’s mom
- Toby Stephens as Poseidon
- Timm Sharp as Gabe Ugliano
- Glynn Turman as Chiron or Mr. Brunner
- Lin-Manuel Miranda as Hermes
- Jason Mantzoukas as Dionysus, or Mr. D
- Toby Stephens as Poseidon
- Jay Duplass as Hades
- Timothy Omundson as Hephaestus
- Adam Copeland as Ares
- Lance Reddick as Zeus
- Megan Mullally as Alecto, or Ms. Dodds
- Charlie Bushnell as Luke Castellan, Son of Hermes
- Dior Goodjohn as Clarisse La Rue, Daughter of Ares
- Olivea Morton as Nancy Bobofit
- Suzanne Cryer as Echidna
- Jessica Parker Kennedy as Medusa
Will “Lightning Thief” and “Sea of Monsters” star Alexandra Daddario appear as Annabeth?
Alexandra Daddario (“Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” and “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters”) has since gone on to star in films like “Baywatch” (2017) and “Wildflower” (2022) as well as TV shows like Mike White’s “The White Lotus.” She told TheWrap that she will not be making an appearance in the show via the Unwrapped Podcast.
“I loved ‘Percy Jackson.’ Like, I loved it. When I stepped into ‘Percy Jackson’ and got that job, I had no idea what it was. I was like, a bit part actor in New York City, you know? I was a kid, I was working at a bar, I didn’t have any idea of Hollywood or of all this stuff,” she said. “And so when I got that job, I didn’t really know what I was stepping into. I knew it was a really big movie. And it was the most amazing experience for a 22/23-year-old to have.”
As for the rest of the cast from “The Lightning Thief” and “The Sea of Monsters” films, they have not yet spoken out about it.
