The beloved fantasy literary series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, is coming to television. The adaptation follows a young boy who discovers he is the son of a god, and he is sent to Camp Half-Blood, a sanctuary for demigod children. In the first season, Percy sets off on a quest accompanied by Annabeth Chase, the daughter of the god Athena, and Grover Underwood, his satyr best friend. Together they must travel across the United States to find and return Zeus’ master bolt to prevent a war.
To help promote the series before its December 20, 2023 premiere on Disney+, the cast and executive producers held a press conference to speak with the media. In attendance were stars Walker Scobell (Percy Jackson), Leah Sava Jeffries (Annabeth Chase), and Aryan Simhadri (Grover Underwood) along with co-creator and executive producer Jonathan Steinberg and executive producer Dan Shotz.
Unlike the films, the book’s creator Rick Riordan and his wife Rebecca were heavily involved in the television show. Shotz praised his work saying, “[t]here’s no one closer to this, this book series than the Riordans. And what was so impressive about them was they were, they were open to looking at it themselves.”
Shotz added, “You know, Rick wrote this 20 years ago and he was, you know, had some distance from it. So it was exciting to hear what things he wanted to do with it, how he wanted to explore different themes and ideas and dig deeper into, into all of it. So it was just, it was kind of amazing to watch, um, and they were insanely collaborative, um, for us all to bring what we brought to it. Um, so it was a special relationship”
Riordan’s involvement in Percy Jackson and the Olympians resulted in a very faithful adaptation. “I’ve never seen somebody bring so much detail from a book and actually add it like, like the specificness of how they said the grass look or how the trees look. Everything in the book was literally like it came out,” Jeffries said. “I walked out feeling like I actually lived in that book and, like, it was, it was very, very, um, surprising and very unimaginable.”
Shotz discussed recreating Camp Half-Blood as well. “[A]ll the kids that were at the camp were, were so connected to the books themselves that them being able to put these orange shirts on and honor this book and, and play these roles, it was just, it was overwhelming, just seeing the excitement from everybody who was there. It was, it was just, um, it was a really powerful, powerful moment.”
Though Percy Jackson and the Olympians revolves around this fantastical journey filled with a modern take on Greek mythology, what keeps the story compelling and grounded are its characters. Simhadri shared the traits he admired about Grover. “He’s kind of, like, skittish, a little cowardly. Uh, but he’s still, you can still see that he’s always willing to put himself in front of his friends…Grover, like, kind of comes out of his shell a little bit more and is more willing to kind of throw himself in front of danger to protect the people that he cares about.”
For fans of the book, one of the biggest relationships is that between Percy and Anabeth. Many have dubbed it Percabeth. Though the television series only covers the first book, there are already seeds being planted for the longer-term narrative. “There’s a lot of great, uh, moments in the show. Um, I think one of my favorite moments is in the Tunnel of Love. Uh, kind of a basic answer,” Scobell said. “I think it really kind of sets up the relationship for the rest of the series.”
Jeffries added, “I actually agree with what he said in the Tunnel of Love because I think that that’s really when the, um, that you can start to see the, the chemistry and the intenseness of how the friendship is building into it.”
To tease the upcoming season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, everyone shared what they were most excited for viewers to see. With a series drawing upon mythology, you can bet on seeing some hulking beasts and creatures. “I mean, I think for me, it was we got to do some pretty amazing creature design in this show,” Shotz said. “Things that I think have never been seen like this, ever. Um, and so for me, it was the chimera, chimera fight between Percy at the top of the [Gateway] Arch.”
If there was one scene they all reached a consensus on, it was the battle between Percy and Ares, played by professional wrestler Adam Copeland. Scobell even talked about how he picked up some good tips for fighting scenes from the wrestler also known as Edge.
Stenberg summed up what he hopes the audience will get out of the show. “We’re all here for the same reason. Um, I, uh, I don’t know, I think that the — these relationships between these kids, I think, were, were really what, um, what got me excited about the book — the first time I read it, got me excited about the project when we came on and, and I’m watching these guys inhabit that and, and take stuff, um, and make it so human and so much fun, um, was really, was really pretty, pretty outstanding. I’m very excited for people to, I guess, see the book in a different way.”
The two-episode series premiere of Percy Jackson and the Olympians is Wednesday, December 20, on Disney+.
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