Mdozturk

Picture of the Empire State Building, featured as the entrance to Olympus in the books.

Greek mythology. Everyone knows about it, at least to some degree. The whole world has heard some version of the many stories about impossibly evil gods, sly goddesses, and tragically destined heroes, all interwoven into a grand web of power and mystery. But what happens when these ancient stories, passed through generation after generation, meet a dyslexic kid with ADHD, a pen, and a dream? Well, suddenly there’s a book series over ten books long, a global fandom, and a highly anticipated book to television adaptation set to release on the 20th of December, 2023. 

Back in May of 2020, which feels like a lifetime ago for eager fans, it was announced that Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan was going to get the very feared, but highly desired, famous book treatment: a live adaptation to the big screen. An attempt at this had been made back in 2010 when 20th Century Fox distributed the first and infamous Percy Jackson movie. It starred Logan Lerman as Percy, Brandon T. Jackson as Grover, and Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth, and while the movies were objectively good, most fans were highly disappointed by the lack of accuracy. Hence, the fandom jokingly dubbed the movies the “ones that shall never be named,” making a funny taboo out of the disappointment; others started calling them the “Peter Johnson” movies, based on Dionysus, the god of wine, intentionally mistaking Percy’s name in the books. 

All in all, the fandom had basically given up on hoping for a proper adaptation when 2020 rolled around, seeing as it had already been seven years since the second and last installment of the initial franchise came out. Hence, the surprise and excitement that shot through the fandom when the news hit the internet was understandable. Additionally, adding even more excitement into the melee, Rick Riordan announced he was an executive producer in the show and was also present during the arduous script writing hours, so fans were all over themselves as they tried to discern what this could mean for the future of their beloved demigod. 

Preliminary casting for the Percy Jackson show began in April 2021, and after many months of uncertainty and anticipation, Rick Riordan posted a segment to his blog where Walker Scobell was announced as the next Percy Jackson. Previously, Scobell had starred in The Adam Project alongside Ryan Reynolds, marking it as his film debut. Many fans were intrigued by this pick, but the more he was interviewed in preparation for the show’s release, the more the fans realized Scobell encapsulated Percy’s character with finesse. After the excitement over the first cast reveal subdued, the anticipation for Annabeth’s and Grover’s casting choices grew to a fever pitch, but it wouldn’t be until a couple of months after, on May 5th of 2022, that Leah Sava Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri would be announced as the actors for Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood respectively. After Riordan announced it on his blog, expressing that “the trio was complete,” the fans were certain that they might actually get the new adaptation, instead of fearing that it had all been a fever dream. 

Filming for the show started in June of 2022 in Vancouver, Canada, and wrapped in February of 2023 in the same place. However, a couple of months after the finalization of filming, the Writer’s Guild of America went on strike, later followed by the SAG-AFTRA strike. This development worried fans that the continuation of the production could be hindered in any way, especially getting the green light for the second season. However, the fear vanished on August 18th of 2023, when Disney+ announced that the show would premier on December 20th of the same year. 

Now, only a matter of weeks before the release of the anticipated show, fans have had several sneak peaks and trailers, which have only served to intensify their excitement and anticipation. Recently, on November 16th of 2023, the newest trailer came out, shocking fans with its CGI and seemingly accurate depiction of the book’s events. Facts from the trailer were being inspected by hawk-eyed fans, and others were gushing over fun little details like the music, such as the new cover of Riptide by Stealth, which fans refer to as Riptide (Percy’s version), alluding to Taylor Swift’s re-recording and reclaiming her old art. Perhaps this allusion indirectly relates to the fans and Riordan himself as they attempt to give the books a proper adaptation that fully captures the books’ magic and intrinsic meaning, which in turn takes back the glory taken away by the movies over a decade ago.