Logan Lerman, where are you?
To Percy Jackson fans of all ages, the time has come! Disney has released the first teaser trailer for the new Percy Jackson and the Olympians TV series and it’s so beautiful I shed one demi-god-magic-filled tear.
The popular young-adult fantasy series by author Rick Riordan is the inspiration for the programme, which features our hero in all his book-accurate glory as a 12-year-old anxious to learn about his destiny as a Grecian Demi-god. The young actor Walker Scobell portrays Percy, who is the son of the sea god Poseidon and human Sally Jackson. He finds himself navigating a world of magic and action with fellow “half-blood” kids Annabeth (daughter of goddess Athena, played by Leah Sava Jeffries), and Grover after learning about his magical past (a mythical Sartyr, played by Aryan Simhadri).
After the previous film series, a duology directed by a bit too-old but nonetheless endearing Logan Lerman, fell short in the eyes of both fans and reviewers in capturing the splendour of the olympic realm, this is the second attempt to adapt Rick Riordan’s books. In order to “do honour” to the series, Riordan previously told The Wrap that Disney wanted to use a one-book-per-season format. Riordan has been vocal about his desire to see his books portrayed accurately.
The TV show is already sticking much more closely to the original material, even using the very first lines of the novel series as the first words spoken by our young hero. “Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood,” Percy says. “Being a half-blood is dangerous. It’s scary. Most of the time it gets you killed… Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
The brief teaser raises a lot of concerns about Percy and his oddball band of preteen half-bloods, but everyone seems to be giggling like kids, at least initially. Logan Lerman needs to be reached by phone, please.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians is expected to premiere on Disney+ next year.
