A Percy Jackson Fan’s Opinion on the new TV show

On December 19th 2023, Percy Jackson fans around the world were delighted to see the release of the highly anticipated television show about the fantasy novel series. This TV series was made to become the accurate representation of Rick Riordian’s series on the big screen, bringing to life the thoughts of the readers while expanding the general audience. Fans held a massive amount for the ambitious project, as Rick Riordan, the author of the novels, was a writer for the screenplay and Disney, one of the largest film making corporations, was to be producing the show. With all this in mind, several fans, myself included, were excited to see how Disney would adapt the vast world of Percy Jackson.

The show kicked off with a two episode premier, the episodes being named after the chapters in the first book of the series ‘The Lightning Thief’. The episodes were between 33-41 minutes long and covered the events of several chapters, along with the one it was named after. In addition to the events that were written in the novel, Rick Riordan and the film writing crew gave additional importance to less significant characters from the novel. The main example of this is the added importance Sally Jackson, the mother of the protagonist Percy. In the novel, Sally is portrayed as a caring mother going out of her way to help keep her son safe, including staying in a manipulative relationship with Percy’s stepfather. However, in the show, Sally is more firm and stands her ground against Percy’s stepfather Gabe. She also raises Percy in a firmer manner than the way she did in the book. Additionally, the characters of protagonists Annabeth, Grover as well as the characters of Ares were expanded, gaining additional scenes and lines. Along with the change in writing, the TV show also brought the world of Percy Jackson to a more modern world based in the present (2023), while the original novel was based in the 1990’s.

While the changes have helped newer generations of fans learn more about the world of Percy Jackson, some fans believe that the newer setting and characters felt out of place. Additionally, some fans believed that the casting choices for the characters were unsuitable for the roles of the characters. The changes initially lead to lots of criticism, mainly about the faithfulness of the novel to the original material. Even with the criticism the TV show quickly became a hit and was adored by Percy Jackson fans, leading it to receive a rating of 7.1 on IMDB and 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. The actors of the TV show, especially the trio of Annabeth (Leah Jeffries), Grover (Aryan Simhadri) and Percy (Walker Scobell) gained large amounts of popularity and fame. The success of the first season has confirmed that Disney and Rick Riordan will continue to work together for at least the next 2 novels, with the final 2 still in consideration.

In my opinion, the new Percy Jackson TV series is a fun watch for all Percy Jackson fans, as well as anyone looking for a comedic and action packed fantasy TV show. The additional scenes, lines and character development adds more to the plot making it more exciting and engaging. The incorporation of modern technology and settings allows younger fans to relate more towards the characters. Even with the major changes, the show remains faithful to the novel's original plot and storyline. I personally enjoyed the first season as it was filled with classic Percy humor and the added details of Sally, Annabeth and Ares made it a very memorable watch. I am looking forward to the next two seasons and hope that Disney and Riordian decide on completing the series with the final 2 novels.