Disney’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians adaptation has the opportunity to rectify the 2010 movie’s inaccurate portrayal of the series' big villain. The movie, starring Logan Lerman as the titular Percy, was widely criticized for being unfaithful to Rick Riordan’s source material and aging up the main characters from 12 to 16. Amid a plethora of cinematic sins, one of the movie’s more specific failings is often overlooked, however.
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, the novel which the movie butchered and that the first season of the Disney show will follow, tracked the journey of two demigods and a satyr, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover, from Camp Half-Blood to the Underworld as they searched for Zeus’ stolen lightning bolt. The trio encountered various mythological monsters along the way, including the Minotaur and Medusa. Disney has avoided some of the movie's mistakes already: Riordan is on board as a producer and the cast is age-appropriate. However, it remains to be seen how Disney’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians will tackle one of the story’s villains.
The Percy Jackson movie’s portrayal of Hades was a vastly simplified version of his book counterpart; Disney cannot repeat this error. Not only did the movie’s incarnation of the character misinterpret the message of Riordan’s books, it would have also created long-term problems for the franchise had the movie been a success. Hades was reduced to a one-dimensional villain, but in the Percy Jackson novels, he was more of a misunderstood antagonist. If it wants to fix the Percy Jackson movies' problems, Disney’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians depends on how it navigates the movie’s mistreatment of Hades, and how it re-situates the God of the Dead in Percy’s narrative.
The Percy Jackson Movie's Hades Failed To Understand The Books
One of the book series’ core themes was that the gods weren’t benevolent heroes. They could be cruel, vengeful, petty, and apathetic, and it was their children who usually bore the brunt of this. However, Hades was also a victim of the other gods’ cruelty. There is no denying that Hades did evil things in the Lightning Thief novel, holding Percy’s mother hostage in the Underworld. However, his motivations were somewhat plausible in Riordan’s text, so it made no sense for the movie to gloss over them. As a result, Hades became a stereotypical villain when there should have been a lot more subtlety to the character.
After World War II, the Big Three – Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades – agreed not to have any more demigod children as they were simply too powerful. Zeus (played by Sean Bean in the movie) and Poseidon both violated the pact when they fathered Thalia and Percy, respectively. Hades, on the other hand, was true to his word, but this didn’t stop Zeus from attempting to kill Hades’ pre-existing children. Hades was also the only god not to have a cabin dedicated to him in Camp Half-Blood; he was painted as a villain by mythology, but his actions were no more villainous than those of his siblings. As such, he was a victim of his own reputation as Lord of the Underworld.
Crucially, Hades had good reason to suspect that Percy was indeed the lightning thief. A detail the movie skipped over that the new series must address was that Zeus wasn’t the only god to have been robbed: Hades’ Helm of Darkness had also gone missing. Olympians and demigods alike were forced to pander to Zeus’ fury, but nobody showed any regard for Hades. Additionally in a weird Percy Jackson casting move, Ares’ role in the story was entirely cut from the movie. It was Ares, along with Luke, who framed Percy for the theft, and Ares was also plotting to start a war among the gods on Kronos’ behalf. The reinvention of Greek mythology was one of the things that made Riordan’s books so great. The movie evidently failed to understand this, as it removed the true villain of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief and laid all the blame on a more accessible antagonist.
The Percy Jackson Series Is A Chance For A Fresh Hades
Disney has already depicted Hades in a stereotypical fashion in Hercules. Therefore, with the Percy Jackson movie’s failure to depict Hades faithfully, Disney now has a chance to do something new with the character. There is nothing to be gained by pigeonholing Hades as a one-dimensional villain. There are many similarities between the Hades in Hercules and the Hades in the Percy Jackson movie, including a penchant for fire as an accessory. The motivations of both iterations are comically malevolent, with little nuance beyond simply being an evil god.
Riordan’s Percy Jackson series was so successful because it breathed new life into ancient mythology. Not only were togas swapped for suits and Hawaiian shirts, and Mount Olympus moved from Greece to New York, the Gods behaved in unexpected ways. They were humanized. The Percy Jackson movie - directed by Chris Columbus - failed to utilize this. It might have made Steve Coogan look like a washed-up rockstar, but apart from that it simply recycled a tired and overused depiction of Hades. Disney should be careful not to rely on established conceptions of Hades, and should instead use Riordan’s novels to do something interesting with the character in Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Hades Needs To Be Fixed For The Future Of The Percy Jackson Series
The movie’s unfaithful adaptation disappointed book-lovers, but it didn’t cause too much long-term damage to the story as the movie franchise tanked. Given that Riordan and Disney want to make a success of the show, it’s vital they get the characters right. This isn’t about the skin color of actors cast in roles being consistent with book descriptions; there has already been backlash around the casting of Annabeth, which Riordan has publicly refuted. Instead, Disney needs to concern itself with ensuring each character is coherent with the world in which they inhabit.
Not only does Hades prove essential in the fight against Kronos in Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian, but Hades’ mistreatment at the hands of the other Olympians is also crucial to understanding his son, Nico. If the Disney show reaches Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse, Nico will become a central character, and his identity is shaped largely by being the son of an ostracized god. If the show fails to establish this Disney version of Hades as a victim as well as a classic Disney villain, it will create problems in later seasons. However, if Disney’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians adaptation succeeds in making Hades as compelling a villain as he is in the books. it will go a long way toward washing away the terrible taste the movies left in audiences' collective mouth.