What to expect from the upcoming Percy Jackson Disney+ series

The hype surrounding the upcoming Disney+ Percy Jackson and the Olympians series has picked up a notch with its latest casting announcement. Lin Manuel Miranda, the actor, director, and writer, best known for helming the critically acclaimed musical Hamilton, has been cast as the Greek God Hermes in the highly anticipated series. So for today’s List Hai toh hit hai podcast we take a look at what we know so far about the series adaptation based on Rick Riordan’s bestselling novels.

Faithful to the source material

The 2010 film adaptation Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and its 2013 sequel Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters were met with criticism when the films were released nearly a decade ago. In fact, the author of the books Rick Riordan allegedly unsuccessfully pleaded with 20th Century Fox to make significant changes to the script. But fans of the novels can breathe a sigh of relief as Riordan will be heavily involved with the upcoming series as co-writer — almost guaranteeing a faithful adaptation of the source material.

Five seasons for five books

Disney+ intends to have five seasons for the series. It is safe to assume that each season will cover each of the five novels written by Riordan. Each season will have eight episodes, and this will ensure that the characters will be thoroughly fleshed out in order to tell an expansive story exploring the lore of Percy Jackson. The release date for the series is yet to be confirmed, but late 2023 is a likely window for Disney+.

Meet the cast

Even though film adaptations were poorly received, the cast boasted stellar names such as Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, Sean Bean, Uma Thurman, Steve Coogan, Rosario Dawson, and Pierce Brosnan. However, the lead characters being much older than their book counterparts did not endear the cast to the fandom. The showrunners of the series have therefore decided to cast age-appropriate actors for the roles. Percy Jackson will be played by The Adam Project star Walker Scobell, whereas Aryan Simhadri and Leah Sava Jeffries will essay the roles of Grover Underwood and Annabeth Chase. In addition to these young actors Jason Mantzoukas, Glynn Turman, Virginia Kull, Megan Mullally, and Timm Sharp have also joined the ensemble along with the recently announced Lin Manuel Miranda, with more casting announcements to be expected.

Behind the magic

Rick Riordan joining the production as a writer has certainly piqued the interest of longtime fans. He will be writing the entire pilot episode for the series and will share the writing responsibilities for the entire season with Black Sails writer Jon Steinberg. Steinberg will also serve as showrunner along with Dan Sholtz, who was also part of the critically acclaimed Black Sails creative team.

Gods and demigods

The plot revolves around a 12-year-old boy named Percy Jackson, the son of the Greek God Poseidon and a human mother. When the Greek God Zeus accuses Percy of stealing Zeus’s master lightning bolt, Percy embarks on an adventure with his friends Annabeth and Grover to restore the balance in Olympus. The series will follow Percy’s life between the ages of 12-16 as he comes to terms with his new powers and the responsibilities thrust onto his young shoulders.

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• Written by Ryan Gomez