The first teaser for Disney+'s upcoming adaptation of "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" has arrived, and it sounds like Percy might be in for dark days ahead. On Sept. 10, the streamer released the new teaser at D23, and revealed the first look at both Walker Scobell as Percy, and of Camp Half-Blood itself. The trailer features voiceover narration from Scobell as Percy, who says, "If you think you might be one of us, my advice is: turn away while you still can."
There's a lot of excitement surrounding "Percy Jackson and the Olympians." The first live-action take on the beloved children's book series by Rick Riordan was released in 2010 with "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief," and it was followed by a 2013 sequel, "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters." The movie series, which starred Logan Lerman in the titular role, was short-lived but still managed to build an impressive fan base, so there are understandably high expectations for Disney+'s reboot.
The series was first announced on May 14, 2020, when Riordan posted a now-deleted tweet with a video of himself and his wife, Becky Riordan, celebrating the news. In 2018, Riordan admitted that he didn't have much control over the 20th Century Fox films, but he and his wife are expected to play a much more prominent part in creating the Disney+ series.
In an April 2022 announcement, Riordan revealed the iconic role of Percy would be played by 13-year-old Scobell, who starred alongside Ryan Reynolds in "The Adam Project." "It was obvious to me and the rest of the team that Walker had the perfect mix of comedic timing, sweetness, rebelliousness, snark and heroism to embody our hero Percy Jackson," Riordan wrote, describing Scobell as a "super-fan of the books." Leah Sava Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri will also star alongside Scobel as Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood.
Read on for everything there is to know about Disney+'s "Percy Jackson" series so far.
"Percy Jackson and the Olympians" will star Scobell as the titular lead. "We look forward to working with the Scobells in Vancouver full-time this summer and building on the dedicated, supportive, enthusiastic community that is rapidly forming around this project," Riordan continued in his blog post. "The excitement is so thick you could cut it with a Celestial bronze sword. Walker is an avid skateboarder and skier, and is super excited to get to Vancouver and start working on swordplay, holding his breath underwater, and other stunts of derring-do. I'm excited he's doing all that and I don't have to, but I will definitely be there cheering him on every step of the way!"
On May 5, Disney+ announced additional cast members, 12-year-old Jeffries and 16-year-old Simhadri, who will play Percy's best friends, Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood, respectively. Other confirmed cast-members include: Megan Mullally as Mrs. Dodds, Jason Mantzoukas as Dionysus, Virginia Kull as Sally Jackson, and Timm Sharp as Gabe Ugliano. Additionally, Glynn Turman will play Chiron, the exceedingly wise centaur who gives Jackson important advice, while Dior Goodjohn will play Clarisse LaRue, the competitive daughter of war god Aries who initially bullies Percy when he arrives at Camp Half-Blood. Finally, Olivea Morton will play Nancy Bobofit, a kleptomaniac and one of Percy's bullies at Yancy Academy, and Charlie Bushnell will play Luke Castellan, the ultra-chill counselor of the Hermes cabin.
In a tweet responding to Riordan's May 2020 announcement of the series, Lerman expressed his excitement for the upcoming series. Congratulating Riordan, he said he hopes the show "gets the adaptation the books deserve." Later, at the Aug. 1 premiere of his movie "Bullet Train" in LA, he told The Hollywood Reporter, "I'm really excited. Curious to see it - everything I've seen so far, peripherally, just about casting and how they're doing it, and that Rick is running it, just makes me happy. It makes me happy for the fans and excited for this new generation to watch it."
But will Lerman's excitement about the reboot translate into an appearance in it? When asked if audiences could expect to see him return to the series, he responded, "It's an interesting question because could you? Sure. But, I'm not. I'm not," he answered. "[It would] just depend on certain factors, a number of things, but most importantly the quality of the script and the role. But they haven't talked to me, they don't want me in it, I don't think. I probably would've heard something by now. But either way, who cares? It's awesome that they're making it, and I'm excited to see them do it."
The live-action fantasy series, which is expected to air in hour-long episodes, will tell the story of "a 12-year-old modern demigod," Percy Jackson, who has to learn to control his newfound supernatural powers. When Zeus accuses Percy of stealing the master lightning bolt he uses to rule over the sky, Percy is forced to travel across the country to find the lightning bolt and bring peace back to Mount Olympus.
Disney+'s "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series will be geared toward a general audience, including "tweens, teens, and young adults."
Disney+ and Riordan have not announced an official premiere date for the "Percy Jackson" series, but the series will most likely premiere in 2023 or 2024.