After it was pitched to Disney by book series author Rick Riordan in January of 2020, the children’s series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” began development later that year in May. Jonathan E. Steinberg and Dan Shotz were announced to be the showrunners for the series in July of the following year.
Multiple people came in to direct different episodes of the show, with James Bobin directing the first episode, and Anders Engström and Jet Wilkinson directing multiple episodes of the rest of the series. The show began filming in Vancouver, British Columbia in June 2022, and ended in February 2023. In October, music for the show was written and produced by Bear McCreary.
Riordan originally believed if he pitched the show to Disney, he would have no control over it whatsoever, due to his experience with 20th Century Fox and the two movies they made in the 2010s, but he was proven wrong when he and his wife were made two of the executive producers for the show.
“Percy Jackson and the Olympians” on Disney+ has done an amazing job retelling the story of the first book of the series, “The Lighting Thief.” The show follows the story of the titular character Percy Jackson, played by Walker Scobell, finding out he’s the forbidden child of Poseidon and learning to live as a half-blood. Percy must then go on a quest to retrieve Zeus’ master bolt that was stolen, since he was accused of stealing it.
While on the quest, he is accompanied by a fellow half-blood and daughter of Athena, Annabeth Chase (Leah Jeffries), and satyr guide Grover Underwood (Aryan Simhadri). As the three adventurers make their way across the country for their quest, they encounter multiple monsters and gods, such as Medusa, the Furies, Ares and Hermes.
The show does a better job of retelling the story than the 2010 movie because Riordan and his wife were part of the making of the show. He handpicked Scobell to play Percy, Jeffries to play Annabeth and Simhadri to play Grover. Plus, he was in the writer’s room during the writing of the show to make sure everything was perfect. Riordan came forward saying that he changed a few things from the original book, so the show would play out smoother.
Riordan and the rest of the writers did an amazing job adapting the series for television as well as capturing the mannerisms of the modern teenager. The sets and props were made with such attention to detail that it feels like they got pulled right from the pages of the book itself, especially Camp Half-Blood. The cabins look so lived in that it feels like a real place that I would want to visit.
This show is probably one of the most faithful adaptations I’ve seen in a while and you can tell a lot of love was put into it. I can’t recommend the series enough.
5/5 stars
npisano@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of of @percyseries, Instagram
