Mark your calendars, demigods. Disney+ is gearing up to release an adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians that will hopefully outdo the Logan Lerman film series. Not to be optimists, but we’re pretty excited for this trip to Camp Half-Blood. For one, the episodic nature of a TV show seems like it will fit the Rick Riordan series, in which the characters travel their way through modern-day versions of Greek myths. Also? They cast kids in the lead roles, as opposed to moody teenagers like the movie. Riordan has been much more involved in this version of Percy Jackson than the 2010 film adaptation. “They should censor the entire thing,” he tweeted about the movie in 2020. “Just two hours of blank screen. We’re gonna fix it soon.” As in, this time, he’s on set and posting about it on his blog. Below, everything the gods at Disney+ have shared about the upcoming series.
Who’s in the cast of this thing?
On the Percy front, Walker Scobell is on a titular-role streak. First he was Adam in The Adam Project (technically one of two Adams with Ryan Reynolds), and now he’s Percy in the Disney+ adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Riordan announced the casting on his website. “I got to deliver the news to Walker personally via Zoom back on Jan. 28 that he had been chosen for the part,” he wrote, “and it was a magical moment that made me feel for the first time: ‘Okay, this is real. This is worth all the waiting and the hard work. This project is going to be amazing.’”
Four months later, Percy Jackson (Riordan’s Version) cast its Grover Underwood and Annabeth Chase. The official Percy Jackson series Twitter announced on May 5 that Leah Sava Jeffries (Empire) and Aryan Simhadri (Cheaper by the Dozen) have joined the official trio for the Disney+ show. Riordan blogged about the completed trio, promising fans that they “will do you proud.” Mr. Hamilton himself, Lin-Manuel Miranda, is playing the god with the best shoes, Hermes, whose son Luke is a … big deal in the first book in the series. Just saying.
The Greek chorus continued to fill up, with Variety announcing Jason Mantzoukas and Megan Mullally, two comedy favorites, to join the cast. The Big Mouth and Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Mantzoukas will play Dionysus, a.k.a. Mr. D, the camp counselor for Camp Half-Blood while the Will & Grace and Party Down star Mullally will play Alecto, a.k.a. Mrs. Dodds, a math teacher who is one of the three Furies who are loyal to Hades. Joining them in the Riordan-approved adaption are Virginia Kull (Super Pumped), Glynn Turman (Women of the Movement), and Timm Sharp as Percy’s mother, Chiron a.k.a. Mr. Burner, and Percy’s stepfather, respectively. Industry’s Jay Duplass will play the god of the Underworld, Hades, while Psych’s Timothy Omundsen will play the god of blacksmiths, Hephaestus.
Is there a trailer?
“Percy, the stories I have told you about Greek gods and monsters — they are real,” Percy’s mother, Sally, intones in the series trailer. It’s kind of a lot to dump on a 12-year-old, but then that was always the point of this series. The official trailer, released November 16, provides a lot of iconography from the original book. There’s those bright-orange Camp Half-Blood shirts, Percy’s dyslexia, and even Annabeth’s invisibility cap. The middle-schoolers around you (or the middle-schooler still deep in your soul) are screaming.
When’s the release date?
These days, time may be as unknowable as it is in the Lotus Hotel (and Casino), but it is drawing us closer to the first two episodes premiering on December 20. This Christmas, be thankful for something that both you and your nieces and nephews/children/various young relatives will want to watch.
This post has been updated throughout with additional information.
