Percy Jackson and the Olympians is one of the most popular series ever written for teens and young readers. Like many bestselling series, Percy Jackson and the Olypmians is getting its own live-action show, which is being released by Disney+.
But like any book-to-movie adaptation, the announcement of this project received just as much backlash as it did excitement.
“I never really understood the backlash. The trio, and everyone else, seem like incredible actors that slip into their roles perfectly, from what we can see from the promotionals,” said Addison White, a freshman at Willow Springs High School.
While this new show has been highly anticipated, there are still many questions and concerns. Over a decade ago, 20th Century Fox released two live-action movie adaptations of the books, “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief” and “Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters.” They received a lot of hate from fans of the books, who were more than disappointed with Fox’s subpar efforts to replicate the books.
It is because of the awful outcome of the movies that the author, Rick Riordan, has chosen to be a producer and have hands-on involvement in this new adaptation.
“Rick being a part of this production is a godsend. He notably sent strongly worded emails to Chris Colombus for disrespecting the original. He can make the series better than the movies because he is having such a big role in the project.” said White.
Casting for the series has been a notable point of controversy. Walker Scobell, who is known for his role in ‘The Adam Project’ will be playing the famous Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon. But unlike the book description, which mentions Percy’s dark hair multiple times, Walker is a blonde. A similar argument, albeit more racist ones, are centered around the actress who plays Annabeth Chase, the daughter of Athena. She is played by African-American actress Leah Sava Jeffries.
“Did I care that his hair is a different color than what is described in the book? Not at all. He just felt like Percy,” Riordan told “Variety Magazine” about Scobell.
He continued to say this about Jeffries, “And Leah impressed me from the moment I met her. She has that sort of steel that makes her a leader, but there’s a bit of vulnerability to her. Now again, does she look like Annabeth looks in the books? No. Was that important to me? No. If anything, it was a massive benefit to broaden the cast in terms of representation.”
“I love Rick’s choice of cast. They may not look the exact part, yes, but I’m sure they will play the part beautifully! People just need to open their minds to new things. Yes- Annabeth is a blonde, caucasian character who defied the ‘dumb blonde’ stereotype. But Leah has come through bravely, playing such a hefty and intimidating role,” said Tomiko Halstead, a freshman at Willow Springs High School.
Much of the controversy centered around the show is a product of past disappointment from the movies. Many are worried about the execution of the show, the casting, the plot, the effects, pretty much everything that the movies managed to mess up.
“The movies screwed everything up. Literally nothing was right. This is a well deserved redemption,” Halstead said.
While many doubt the ability of the young actors that will be playing the favorite trio of teen fiction, they have faced it with grace and maturity.
“It got to me for literally like 90 seconds. But I know that matter how many people are going to say bad things, it’s never going to be true,” Jeffries said in an interview with “Variety Magazine.”
“I am so excited to see the Tunnel of Love scene, since the movies cut that out.” Halstead said.
“The only scene from the movie that was most like the original was the Lotus Casino scene. I cannot wait to see how they do that scene. It’s one of my favorites.” says White.
Riordan has mentioned in many interviews that he is beyond proud of the cast and team at Disney.
“They’re perfect, and they’ve only become more perfect,” he said.
There are eight episodes in this season, each about one hour long. The first two episodes of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” will be released on Disney+ on Dec. 20, 2023, with new episodes coming out weekly over the course of six weeks.
