Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a story that has been and is much loved by children and adults everywhere. Over 180 million copies of the beloved book series have been sold worldwide and translated into 37 different languages. And now, Percy Jackson has taken us all back to fifth grade again with a new series on Disney +. This adaptation of the books, which was announced in May of 2020 and released on December 20th, 2023, has garnered millions of positive reviews and grown the already enormous fanbase. With such a widespread audience of enthusiasts everywhere, it’s no surprise that Disney + has officially given the green light to another season of the show. What started 20 years ago as a bedtime story for his son, Rick Riordan’s book series, has made so much progress from where it began and has taken so many steps forward in becoming the successful collection of stories and films it is today.
Disney + ’s re-imagining of Percy Jackson and the Olympians has been a smash hit with people of all ages since its season 1 premiere in December. Jonathan E. Steinberg and Dan Shotz directed the series, and the score was composed by Bear McCreary, who has also written music for several other shows and films, including Lord of the Rings: the Rings of Power. Dan Hennah, who also worked on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film series, assisted in production design. The plot of The Lightning Thief closely follows the books in which 12-year-old Percy Jackson discovers he is a demigod, ends up on a wild quest to return a magical weapon to the Greek God Zeus, and saves his mother from mythical forces of the underworld. The cast of this adaptation illustrated this story in a whole new way, with Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson, Leah Sava Jefferies as Annabeth Chase, and Aryan Simhadri as Grover Underwood. This cast of young actors impressed everyone on set with their willingness to learn and commitment to their part, making them the perfect fit for their roles. “[Walker] really embodies what it means to be Percy,” said Rick Riordan in A Hero’s Journey, a documentary about the making of the series. “He has a sense of humor, he has Percy’s snark, but also a sense of wonder that [other kids] don’t have.” The cast and crew also got to work with actor and songwriter Lin Manuel Miranda, who was cast as the god Hermes. Producer Dan Shotz said that Lin was their first choice for the role, and he and Jonathan E. Steinberg were happy Lin was able to be a part of the production. “Getting to work with one of the greatest [musical] minds of our generation… I mean, how do you not freak out in that kind of situation?” said Aryan Simhadri in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. The cast added their flare and humor to the show, making it hard not to fall in love with the series.
The filming of Percy Jackson and the Olympians also made it unique because almost the entire thing was shot on a high-tech volume stage in Vancouver, Washington. This was the first time this studio had been occupied with Industrial Light & Magic’s groundbreaking LED StageCraft technology, which had only been used a couple of times in temporary locations. This method of filming on the volume stage was beneficial in creating realistic scenes from the books without being in the physical locations, a crucial aspect in the production of the series. According to producer Dan Shotz, every aspect of the show had to be aligned with the books in order to make the most accurate interpretation possible. In an interview, Walker Scobell (Percy) recounts not being able to rely on any sources other than the books while filming was in progress, including any ideas from the Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief movie or tips from the previous actors. This was so that the show wouldn’t be as disappointing to fans as the movies, which were very different from the books in many ways. “…We really had to [do justice to] this book that 180 million people around the world adore,” Shotz said, reminding audiences that there wouldn’t be a show without the magic of the original books and continuous support from fans they’ve received.
People have been reading Rick Riordan’s books since the first one was published in 2005. Since then, he has also written and published 5 more Percy Jackson books and several other series, including The Kane Chronicles, The Heroes of Olympus, and more. When Rick first announced the show to the public in May of 2020, fans everywhere began to wonder about its accuracy due to the bad reviews that the Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief movie (2010) received. “I knew that there was this sort of pent-up demand for a really faithful adaptation of the stories,” Rick said, acknowledging the love that people had for the original books. “[The show] was never a project that I wanted to do for myself; it was more about the fans who had read the books over the years.” Fortunately, Rick’s goal of presenting readers with an accurate re-imagining of Percy’s story was easily achieved, with the first two episodes surpassing 26 million views in the first three weeks after having been released. The show is primarily book-accurate, except for a few details. “It’s been a little bit of a journey for [Rick] too, to finally see these things realized in such a way that feels right, that feels like it’s doing justice to the stories he’s spent so much of his life with,” shared director Jonathan E. Steinberg, talking about Rick’s commitment to the books in A Hero’s Journey. The cast of the show were also fans of the original series, and Walker Scobell recalls that before filming, he had read the first five books around seven times.
Percy Jackon’s story has connected with people of all ages and continues to do so. The books by Rick Riordan have already joined Harry Potter and The Hunger Games as some of the world’s most popular and memorable YA fiction books. The show finally did justice to both the series and the readers, and longtime fans of the books are pleased with the new adaptation and its faithfulness to the original story. However, in an interview, Aryan Simhadri told viewers, “…you don’t have to be a fan of the books to enjoy this!” It’s safe to say that the series has been thoroughly enjoyed, having been streamed around 110 million times on Disney + and Hulu since its premiere on December 20th, 2023. Perhaps this was the reason why season two of the show was confirmed by Disney + on February 7th. No details have been released on when production for this new season will start, but it’s safe to say that the adventure of Percy, Annabeth, and Grover has a promising future.
