What is Percy Jackson and the Olympians (the TV Show)?
Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a TV-PG TV show, originally aired on December 19th, 2023. It follows the titular character Percy Jackson and his companions as they explore Rick Riordan’s world of Percy Jackson. Every season follows one of Rick Riordan’s “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” books. Season 1 follows the storyline of the Lightning Thief, the book originally published in 2005. Season 2, releasing on December 10th will follow the second book of the series, Sea of Monsters. Though many fans were uncertain about the ability of the TV show to succeed, the first season was well received. It earned an IMDB rating of 7/10 and a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 91%. Due to the success of the first season, the series was renewed for Season 2 quickly, with the cast starting to film soon after the Season 1 finale. Disney, the company producer, also announced the renewal of the series for a third season on March 14, 2025, with filming starting on August 8th, 2025. Fans are ecstatic about the new season releasing soon, with the cast and creator teasing tidbits of the new season through social media. The first official trailer for Season 2 was released on November 6, 2025, to the YouTube channel of Disney+. It has garnered 15 million views with multiple major commentary creators, such as MovieFlame, creating breakdowns of all the details of the trailer.
What Happened in Season 1 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians?
Season 1 of Percy Jackson consisted of 8 episodes and were released weekly. It follows Percy, played by Walker Scobell, as he discovers that he is a demigod, the son of Poseidon. He learns that Zeus’s Masterbolt has been stolen and that Zeus blames him. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades had created a pact to not have anymore demigod children due to previous children’s power and destructiveness. Percy is tasked with finding the lightning bolt, being given a quest to give the bolt back by the summer solstice. He befriends Annabeth Chase, played by Leah Jefferies, and Grover Underwood, played by Aryan Simhadri, and they set off on an expedition to find the bolt. Throughout the season, they face many monsters and meet a multitude of famous Greek mythological figures, such as Ares and Hermes. For more details and spoilers for the finale, watch Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney+.
Controversies of Percy Jackson (TV Show)
A Look and Opinion into the Drama of the TV Show
- The Zeus Controversy
- Due to the death of Season 1 Zeus actor Lance Reddick, many fans were nervous about the continuation of Zeus in the series. Zeus serves as a major secondary character throughout the entire Riordanverse. The studio could have gone in multiple ways to respect the work of Lance Reddick. They chose to recast Lance to Courtney B. Vance, allowing Zeus to continue to appear in the series while honoring and respecting the former actor of the King of the Gods.
- 2. Casting Controversy
- When the first casting was revealed to the fans, there was a wave of backlash, fans criticizing the casting of a few characters, such as Leah Jeffries as Annabeth Chase. Rick Riordan, the creator and executive director of the series, publicly defended the casting, expressing that Leah embodied Annabeth’s strengths and the core values. Alex Daddario, the actress of Annabeth in the Percy Jackson movies, also publicly defended and supported the casting decision. Both condemned the backlash to the casting as racist.
- Opinion: I did not mind the cast of Leah Jeffries as Annabeth Chase. I was very upset at many fans’ response to the casting, as many members of the fanbase stated that they would not even watch the TV Show due to this casting. I find that response abhorrent, as they were judging the series, not for the content or the performance, but the skin color of one of the main characters. Minority communities have historically not had much representation in much of mainstream media, and I was personally happy to see that the series allowed a minority actor to take a leading role. Many of the responses, were hypocritical as that side of the fanbase wants “book accurate casting”, even though there was not much pushback with the cast of Walker Scobell, who does not have “messy black hair” or “sea-green eyes” as described of Percy in the books. Other series have had this kind of pushback from a side of their fanbases such as the casting of Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape. I hope that the fans that were upset about the casting are more open to the decision and will give the TV show an actual chance.
- 3. Age Worries – Outgrowing the Characters
- Percy Jackson is specifically aged as 12 during the events of the Lightning, and turning 16 in the Last Olympian. Many fans are worried about the age differences of the cast. Walker Scobell, who was 13-14 (due to the long filming) during the filming of the Lightning Thief, will approximately be 18 – 19 years old during the filming of the unconfirmed final fifth season (if they film a season every year). This leads fans to be worried about Walker and the rest of the cast outgrowing the characters. There is a similar dilemma when looking at other YA film characters. For example, during the final season of Stranger Things, the main crew of actors’ ages ranged from 21 – 25 while supposedly portraying 17 year-olds. Already, when looking and listening through the episodes and clips already released, fans have pointed out that Walker’s voice has changed when comparing even episode to episode, and especially season to season.
