At long last, the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series by Rick Riordan will be adapted into a show. My elementary-middle school self is ecstatic. A couple of years ago, the first two books in the five-book series were adapted into movies, “The Lightning Thief” movie came out in 2010, and the “Sea of Monsters” in 2013. While these movies were very popular, many of the book fans were upset about the inaccuracy of the films when compared to the books. It is worthy to note, though, that most movies based on books are never perfectly depicted in their live-action counterparts, such as in the famous Harry Potter series. Many were upset with the minor inconsistencies here and there throughout the movie franchise, but overall many loved it, as the casting was impeccable. The same can be said for the cast in the Percy Jackson movies. I personally think that Logan Lerman playing Percy Jackson was a perfect casting decision and many of the other characters looked similar to what I had once pictured when reading the book. One of the best things to come out of the movie was the casino scene with the Lotus Flower cookies. That scene is the pinnacle of the first movie, being the most memorable scene of the entire film, ask anyone who watched it in 2010. Everyone wanted to try those cookies.
So, upon hearing about the release of the new series on Disney+, I was really excited. Instead of finishing the books as movies, they made the decision to restart and do an entire series dedicated to the readers. Many fans expressed their opinions, stating that this would give the production a better chance of getting the movie’s inconsistencies right. Having a series with many episodes would allow more details from the book to go in, and the time to get feedback from the dedicated fans, who have been waiting for this for a long time. One thing that they got right was the casting for Percy Jackson being Walker Scobell, well-known for his role in The Adam Project, which starred some other notable celebrities like Ryan Reynolds and Jennifer Garner. Fans took to social media expressing that the casting was excellent, saying that he was a more accurate depiction of Percy from the book, not only in age but in overall look. (Logan Lerman will always be near and dear to my heart as the original Percy.) With this first decision being made and being a good one, one can only hope that they continue to do well in regard to decisions for the series. Here are some things that I’d personally love to see in the show.
Logan Lerman and the original cast from the movies making cameos.
When I say that everyone loved Logan Lerman as Percy Jackson, I am not lying; his depiction of the character was damn near perfect. Even Alexandra Daddario, who played Annabeth (daughter of Athena and Percy’s love interest), was so accurate, despite her not being blonde as described in the book. As it is known in the books that they are a flashback of Percy’s life, it would be so cool to see Logan be the narrator, aka older Percy, or even as Poseidon, Percy’s godly father—seeing anyone from the movies would be so nostalgic and fun.
Bringing in the God of War
One of the biggest critiques that the movies had in the past was the lack of the character Ares, the god of war, who was completely taken out of the plot of the first movie. Ares acts as a distraction in the book and is the prime suspect behind Zeus’s lightning bolt being stolen. His lack of presence in the movies left the twist feeling less impactful when the real thief was revealed.
ADHD and Dyslexia Representations
In the book, it is cannon known that all of the children of the gods (demigods) have dyslexia and/or ADHD. The dyslexia is due to reading Greek symbols better than English and the ADHD from being restless warriors. In the movie, it really only seemed like Percy was the only one struggling with these, so it’d be better to see that it was not just him and that it was common among demigods.
A Better Look of the Camp
I would love to see the rest of the cabins for each god, and we only get to see the smaller building in Camp Half-Blood and Percy’s cabin, none of the other god cabins for the other campers. A more detailed setup of the camp, that emphasizes the magic and enchantment that is paired with Greek mythology would make a Percy Jackson fan like myself very happy.
