Disney+ has become the place for series based on Star Wars and Marvel, and if we’re being honest, not a great deal more of note. However, there is at least one upcoming series that has a lot of fans with a Disney+ subscription interested that isn’t set in a galaxy far, far away, or contain any superheroes. Percy Jackson and the Olympians will be the second screen adaption that we’ve seen for the popular series of novels, and author Rick Riordan says that, after getting a look at the show, it will be exactly what fans are hoping for.
Two Percy Jackson films came out in the early 2010s, but neither was really a home run with fans. Speaking with Comicbook.com, Rick Riordan says that first and foremost what he wants from the new Disney+ series is for it to make the fans happy. Based on everything we know about Percy Jackson and the Olympians, that was definitely a goal, and based on what Riordan has seen, he believes the series will do that, which was a relief for him. He explained…
Honestly, I think my first reaction was relief. I was like, ‘Oh, thank goodness. I think the fans are going to be pleased.’ That’s all I want.
For the new Percy Jackson series to be a true hit, it will likely need to appeal to an audience beyond the people who are already fans, but it’s understandable why, for the author, the fans are his primary focus. They made the books popular enough that a studio would want to adapt them in the first place. The goal for him is that they are rewarded to some degree by getting the adaptation they want and seeing the books come to life the way they were imagined.
Of course, that hope to make fans happy can have its own issues. Alexandra Daddario has talked about the pressure that came from trying to get everything just right in the previous movies. One imagines the Percy Jackson and the Olympians cast is feeling similar pressure, though these words from the author may have alleviated that.
The series is still deep in the work phase. While filming on Percy Jackson has wrapped, the digital effects-heavy series is still in post-production. In fact, Riordan says he hasn’t seen any of the shows with completed digital effects. For him what makes the new series isn’t the way it looks, but the story. And from hearing the author tell it, the show went through many interactions to get to where it is. He continued…
I’ve seen cuts of all the episodes at this point, multiple cuts, because they do go through a manuscript. They go through revision, after revision, after revision. They’re great.
Getting the seal of approval from the author is certainly going to be the best possible response that Percy Jackson and the Olympians could possibly get. If there are any book fans that have been worried about the show, this will likely get them to check it out. When we’ll have that chance remains to be seen. The series doesn’t have a premiere date yet, but is expected to arrive on Disney+ in early 2024.