Hey, all.

There is finally someone working on another Percy Jackson series production, starting with The Lightning Thief as an entire season. It’s a relief to see another attempt made in this after the unnamed previous ones. This was one of my favorite series as a kid, rivaling even HP, and it's been a real bummer that the only fixes I can get are the rare updates of SOTWS. Accordingly, I am both exhilarated and nervous for the result, as it is likely to be the most serious attempt in the near future.

Scratch that. I’m fucking pumped.

Via announcement, it will be a Disney+ TV series, which is similar to what most fans have been advocating.

The actual video announcement is on the thread below:

https://twitter.com/rickriordan/status/1261010163068272640?s=21

Thoughts on the potential series quality? Casting prospects? Pace of the episodes?

 

Looks legit.

Disney + makes me a bit nervous if they go for a more elementary vibe but it could be good.

Casting wise. A couple people come to mind for Percy:

David Mazouz was great as Bruce Wayne and still looks young.

Ryan Potter is youngish looking if you don’t mind an Asian Percy.

Charlie Tahan from Ozark.

Finally, Asher Angel from Shazam.

 

This is a great opportunity to pick up some unknowns for the younger cast and crew. Definitely known commodities for the Gods/Luke/older generation, but an open casting call for Percy/Annabeth/Grover. This is a chance to create another Dan/Rupert/Emma or the Stranger Things kids. All of them were 11-13/14 when they started.

 

Yeah the MCs definitely have to be younger this time and hopefully with an actual series they might not cut out half the plot and replace it with...clunkier sections of plot that make no sense.

And for the love of God make Annabeth blonde.

 

Preach it.

 

Lol arthellion, if they're going true to canon by doing a book adaption aka young they're probably going to get an underage main cast and try to do it HP-style.

That depends on how much Disney+ is willing to put into it though but even if they end up casting early 20s, I cant see any on your list as a good PJ.

 

Yeah it all be undersage likely.

But Idk, I think all of the ones on my list could be a good percy if they do early 20s/late teens. David grew greatly as an actor during the last few seasons of Gotham. Ryan Potter has the boyish charm.

Asher Angel has the heroic vibe/tortured hero thing kinda down.

 

Sounds promising but we're what...2 years minimum away from it actually debuting, maybe 3? I'll believe its happening when they announce that they've started to film it.

 

I'm exited for it but the way that Artemis Fowl film doesn't exactly fill me with joy at Disney's ability to make good YA adaptations. Let alone the rest of their abysmal attempts.

 

Not too far off, as it turns out.
The first trailer has dropped:

 

Man, I just can't with the ten year-olds wearing the armour... it looks so ludicrous.

Nothing to do with the show, I imagine it's faithful to the books... but I just can't take it seriously.

 

I for one, am excited. Rick Riordan has continued to be involved in things, and the kid actors make me think they're actually planning on doing all the original series at least. I'm not letting myself get hyped until it starts coming out and is actually good, but there's reason enough to think there's hope imo.

Only caveat is that I recently reread the first book and my suspension of disbelief could not hold at more than one point, so I'm definitely planning on treating it like a kid's show that I don't think about too hard.

 

Main thing I'm excited about is Will Sorbell. The kid can act and really has some amazing talent for such a young age. I think he can carry a series like this.

 

tbf, the kids are essentially demigod hobos. For all intents and purposes, they're essentially illiterate beggars that can't work. The fact that Riordan made it seem YA-friendly is miraculous.

 

As I’m sure a few DLPers know, Lance Reddick passed recently. What most probably don’t know is that he was cast as Zeus in this TV series. Season 1 has already finished shooting, so I’m wondering what they’re gonna do now that the actor for a fairly important character is gone.

 

I was concerned about this too, but on the bright side if there was any character for which shapeshifting their appearance for a recast would be believable, it would be Zeus lol

In any case, it‘ll be nice to see Reddick in one more show at least. RIP

 

So the first two eps are out.

It's... okay so far. Very watchable. Not amazing, but certainly a better take on the series than the first 30 minutes of the film version.

The kid playing Percy is a very strong actor, and there are some genuinely funny/sassy lines that nail the personality. Haven't really seen enough of Annabeth's actor to comment on her, but she seems to have the right stoic vibe.

Production value feels about the same as the film. Camp Half Blood looks unimaginative af. It could be the summer camp from any 80s movie.

The biggest downside is the exposition. There is way too much. Like.... so so much. I really hope this is just 1st episode Setup Syndrome and not the trend for the whole season.

 

Agree with pretty much everything Khan said, it felt super disney and kid focused...but Percy's actor is nailing it.

His takedown of Clarisse was pretty legit.

They're being pretty faithful to the book and for that I'm grateful. Biggest issue is pacing and so much dang exposition.

 

So, I've only ever read the first book like 10 years ago and didn't like it at all, never saw the previous movie, but you could probably say I'm pre-disposed to not like the show. And I didn't. First 2 episodes bored me, though I liked the music. But I guess that's not really the show's fault so much as the source material, as I found the plot to just be generic and boring, definitely for a much younger target audience. But I will say after watching it, I had the remarkable urge to start playing Hades again.

 

Tbh, that's basically more what it's supposed to be than what the film was.