Percy Jackson fans rejoice! If you've seen the trailer for the series, you know the hype is real and very much deserved after the lackluster 20th Century Fox Percy Jackson duo movies back in the early 2010s. Fans were patient, and that patience will be rewarded come the two-episode premiere in December.
From what the teaser trailers have shown us, the set pieces are gorgeous and perfectly match what Camp Half Blood looks like in the books. The cast is full of brilliant and talented young actors, the costumes/armor look great, and the CGI for the monsters has not disappointed. The show is already five steps ahead of what the movies could have been.
It's no surprise that Percy Jackson and the Olympians will surpass its film predecessors. Why did Chris Columbus's movies fail so badly? That is mostly because the filmmakers did not truly capture the source material. Or even stick to it, honestly. There's a lot that can be said about the failure of the Percy Jackson films. But that's not entirely what we'll be talking about today. We're here to dive into why the TV series will succeed where the films have not.
Uncle Rick's Heavy Involvement
It's no secret that the success of the show's production falls heavily upon Riordan's involvement. Unlike the Percy Jackson movies, Riordan is one of the main producers and writers for the show. He was present during the casting process and picked young actors/actresses that best represented the personalities of his characters.
He has seen parts of each episode of the new series, how they go through revision after revision, and comments on how great it is. He is there to watch his stories come to life in a way that not only his readers will love but he loves as well. It is so clear that the Percy Jackson and the Olympians show is more than just a passion project. We see Riordan pouring his heart and soul into this show, and it is so refreshing to witness.
One of the biggest issues with Columbus's Percy Jackson films was that, as mentioned before, Riordan had no involvement in either movie. Back in 2020, Riordan posted a tweet stating that he has never seen the movies and he doesn't plan to do so. He judged the movies just from reading the scripts and even pleaded to not have his work tarnished in that way. So not only did the directors not have the author of Percy Jackson involved in the films, but they blatantly disregarded his wishes after he read the scripts. He made sure that the same mistake would not happen with this new adaptation of his work.
Perfect For the Modern Era
Some more critical fans of the PJO series are still protesting some of the casting choices for the characters. Namely, Annabeth Chase's character, portrayed by the brilliantly talented Leah Sava Jeffries, because she is a young black actress. In the books, Annabeth is a white girl with curly blonde hair and gray eyes. Fans were expecting book-accurate characters in both looks and personality.
Yet the charmingly funny Walker Scorbell does not have black hair or green eyes like Percy does. But Riordan was quick to defend the upcoming show's diverse casting. He wanted to make sure that he was looking at his story with a fresh set of eyes with the emphasis of wanting it to speak to everyone. Not just a select group of people.
Percy Jackson fans who grew up with the series are surely reading them as bedtime stories to a new generation of PJO fans. That's how he came to be in the first place: with Rick Riordan making up this story to put his son to bed. Percy himself has stated numerous times throughout the books that anybody can be a demigod. No matter your age, culture, race/skin color, gender, etc. You can have fatal flaws and/or disabilities and still be the best person you can be. Life is a never-ending adventure of self-discovery, especially in today's modern era. We will surely see much more of that with Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Sticking to the Story
Because nobody from 20th Century Fox or the production team didn't consider asking for input from Riordan himself, they ultimately decided to alter the story for the movies. They chose to focus on an older audience (teenage to young adult audience) and even introduced some characters far too early. Or they didn't introduce important characters/gods at all. Plus, they never even touched essential moments between the characters.
A good example is the siren scene between Percy and Annabeth in the second book, Sea of Monsters, where Percy learns about Annabeth's fatal flaw (hubris) and his own (loyalty) for the first time. Suffice it to say Columbus barely even scratched the surface of the source material.
The Percy Jackson show, from what we saw from the social media updates and trailers, is sticking to the original story. Of course, there will be some revisions compared to the books. But that is why Riordan's involvement is important. He has discussed before that there are some continuation issues and plot holes he has wanted to tidy up. This show will be the perfect chance to do so.
This is also an amazing opportunity to work on other projects in the Riordanverse in the near future. The story of Percy Jackson was already brilliantly told with the first five books of the series. It's going to be so thrilling to see a proper adaptation of Percy's story the way it should be told.