On December 20th of 2023, a highly anticipated and well-deserved adaptation of the book series Percy Jackson and the Olympians was released on Disney Plus and Hulu. This book series turned show revolves around a young demigod boy named Percy Jackson and his two other demigod friends Annabeth and Grover. They go on a fated quest to return the lightning bolt of Zeus, king of the sky, back to Mt. Olympus. On this journey, the three kids learn more about old Greek mythology tales that are suddenly appearing in their day-to-day lives, and the main character Percy learns more about his Greek god side. Two of the eight were released on the debut day, and since then, one episode has been released every week on Tuesdays at 9:00 pm EST.
This new series is very near and dear to the fans of the original series because they want to have an accurate and entertaining series that remains true to the written word. Back in 2010, there was a movie adaptation that was not that close to the source material of the book series. These movies were referred to as a “disgrace” to the book series by not only the fandom but also the author, Rick Riordan. The failed attempt at an adaptation inspired Riordan to pitch a book-accurate television series to the executives at Disney, and it was a hit. The show moved quickly from that point on and there were soon casting auditions for who would play the main 3 characters: Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and Grover Underwood. Many child actors went through the auditioning process to see who would fit these roles to the best of their abilities. The 3 children chosen were Walker Scobell as Percy, Leah Jeffries as Annabeth, and Aryan Simhadri as Grover. Walker previously got his big break in the movie The Adam Project as a young version of Ryan Reynolds’s character Adam Reed. Both Aryan and Leah have been in some smaller movies and shows in the past.
Overall, I am very excited for the rest of the season and if it gets picked up for season 2, I will be eager to see exactly how they continue the story line.
