As Rick Riordan once wrote, “If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself.”
“Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is a TV show based on a hit book series that came out in 2005 after it rose to popularity. Two movies came out in the following years, but they were not a hit at the box office due to many of the inaccuracies from the book. This new series is hitting Disney+ on December 20 and is said to be accurate in most aspects.
In this show, Greek gods and their half-blood children, also known as “demigods,” are hunted from the moment they realize who their godly parent is. We meet the main character Percy Jackson, who is the son of Poseidon.
The story starts with Percy getting to Camp Half-Blood and learning of his true parentage. He learns about “The Great Prophecy,” made by the Oracle of Delphi, that foretold the rise or fall of Olympus by a demigod child of the Big Three. Upon hearing this prophecy, Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon swore to not have children following World War II, which was a fight amongst demigods. They believed half-bloods from the Big Three possessed far too much power and would only cause harm.
Percy should, by all means, not be alive, on the account that he is a product of his father breaking this very oath. Before Percy arrives at the camp, the Master Bolt is stolen from Olympus, and Percy is perceived as the sole culprit. Zeus decrees that if the bolt was not returned by the summer solstice there would be a war among the gods that would eventually destroy the world. Percy and his friends, Grover and Annabeth, go on a quest to retrieve the Master Bolt, which is said to be in the hands of Hades.
Walker Scobelle, who is playing Percy Jackson, debuted his acting skills in 2022 when he starred in the film “The Adam Project.” Scobelle is said to have been the best pick for this by the author of the book, Rick Riordan.
Among the cast of “Percy Jackson,” big actors are taking on roles such as Lance Reddick who will be playing Zeus, the king of gods, but he will not be a part of season two because of his death on March 17, 2023. Adam Copeland, a famous WWE performer, will be taking on the role of Ares, the Greek god of war. Annabeth is played by actress Leah Sava Jeffries, who has taken smaller roles in other movies such as “Beast” and “Something from Tiffany’s.”
However, there has been some backlash of Leah Sava Jeffries taking on the role of Annabeth, due to her being black and her character being white in the books. Some critics believe that she will not be a good actress and that they are not staying true to the books with Annabeth being portrayed as white in the books. People do not agree with the change, they think she should have been white in the show. Other people do not care about her skin color and think that her being a person of color is a good idea and are excited to see her on screen.
If the directors of the show stay true to the books for the most part this will be a success, and the fans will finally get to see what they have been envisioning for years on screen.