After a busy weekend at D23, fans of the Greek mythology-inspired Percy Jackson book series have news about the streaming adaptation coming to Disney+. Percy Jackson and the Olympians started filming this summer, despite negative reactions to some of the casting, and now audiences are waiting to find out when the show will be available to stream. To hold them over, Disney released a teaser that shows just how great the series will be compared to the previous film adaptations.
Jonathan E. Steinberg and Dan Shotz are the showrunners, with the author of the books Rick Riordan being the creator and executive producer of the series. Walker Scobell, known for his role in the Ryan Reynolds-led film The Adam Project, plays the titular demigod. Leah Sava Jeffries is Annabeth Chase, a daughter of Athena and a fierce warrior and friend to Percy. Jeffries was previously in the shows Empire and Rel. Percy’s best friend Grover, who is actually a satyr sent to protect him, will be played by Aryan Simhadri. The young actor has previously worked with Disney on the movies Spin and Trevor: The Musical.
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Let’s break down the most important takeaways from the teaser, from the cabins to the return of our favorite t-shirts.
The Voiceover is Straight From the Book
Fans of the popular book series may recognize the narration. That’s because it comes from the first page of The Lightning Thief, the series’ first book. Lovers of the books have been going wild on TikTok, posting videos showing the differences, and comment sections are filled with people noting how excited they were when they heard it.
There are some slight modifications due to the new medium, but it comes directly from the opening scene of the book. The most apparent changes are the removal of references to reading the material. “Close this book right now” has been changed to “turn away while you still can,” and a section about “recognizing yourself in these pages” was removed entirely. “Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood” is what opens the book initially, so it is a great nod to fans for it to open the teaser. The voiceover also ends with the same line as the book’s introduction ends with.
Ultimately, it’s a great callback for fans and hints at how much the series will likely pull from its source material.
The Visuals Are Stunning
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A significant portion of the book takes place at Camp Half-Blood, the space designed to protect children of the gods and train them in how to protect themselves from enemies. Each of the gods has a cabin, explicitly designed with their children in mind. There are 20 cabins in total, with some more occupied than others.
The cabins of the original film adaptation, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, left much to be desired. In the books, Poseidon’s (Percy’s god dad) cabin has walls made of abalone shells and a fountain. In the film, it looks like something modified from a Survivor tribe, made of wood and resembling a boat dock. The series turns that on its head, creating a beautiful blue cabin that looks like it came straight out of Ancient Greece. It has tall columns, wave decorations across the top, and lanterns that resemble those used on boats.
The two others that can be seen are equally great, with nice colors and varied architecture, so it’s likely going to be very clear which god each cabin represents when the show reaches our screens.
The Orange Shirts Are Back
One of the most iconic and easiest costumes fans have made to cosplay and dress up as their favorite characters are the orange Camp Half-Blood shirts. In the books, every camper wears them, no matter the occasion. The film adaptation did not include them, which was a bummer for fans who handmade their own for the premiere. The musical based on the series, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, does utilize the orange shirts in some shows.
The teaser shows all the campers, including the new Percy, wearing them. The design is a touch different from what many have made for themselves, though the Pegasus icon is still present. Hopefully, when the series is released, fans will be able to buy their own.
While it looks like viewers will have to wait until 2024 to see the series in its finished glory, likely because of the new technology being used to create it, check out some other shows coming out this month on Disney+.
