The widely famous Greek mythology-based fantasy fiction book series Percy Jackson And The Olympians is in the news for its impending debut as a Disney+ series. After nearly two years of wait, long-time fans seem delighted with the show's green light and are thrilled about Riordan being an exclusive participant in the creative team. The previous movie duology was criticized for its overall story and creative direction. Fans seem to be hoping for a turn of events this time, and the series' buzz hasn't disappointed so far.
While the initial casting of the main leads received mixed opinions, the show still has a lot of hype. The story dwells on the life of Percy Jackson and his quests as a demigod, accompanied by his compadres. This fantasy fiction brings old mythology to a newer perspective while exploring the lives of 'teenage demigods.' As the audience waits for the impending release, there are a few things fans hope they won't see repeated from the movies in the Disney+ show.
The Characters And The Actor's Age Difference
Percy Jackson's movies included Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, and Brandon T. Jackson as the main leads. And though they suited very well with the character description, their age definitely caused problems for the franchise to continue. In the first book," The Lightning Thief," Percy was merely twelve years old, whereas, in the movie, Logan Lerman was almost 18. This age gap would have caused the issue if and when the franchise had continued, as the character would seem overgrown more than necessary.
However, the Disney+ series already seems to be going down the right path by casting Walker Scobell, famously seen in The Adam Project and who is thirteen years old, as Percy. The actor's age and the character allow the portrayal to be much more impactful and relatable.
Diversity In The Cast
While the storyline of Percy Jackson revolves heavily around Greek mythology, the characters don't originate from the same background. The plot displays diversity in the characters' traits and cultures. The movies focused mainly on the three leads with similar cultural backgrounds portraying the major events in the story.
However, the Disney+ series has gone a step forward and displays yet another different feat from the movies. The leads represent various parts of the community and are an appropriate reflection of modern society.
Rushing Into Character Introductions
One of the biggest complaints from the audience and long-time fans was the rushed character development in the films. From the introduction of Percy to him realizing his powers and the revelation of Camp Half-Blood, every significant turn of events felt forced and hurried.
The introduction of Clarrise was a notable miss, while the last scene in The Sea of Monsters bringing Thalia back to life lacked luster in her character reveal. Book lovers would surely want to see a brief introduction to all the Percy Jackson characters as the story evolves. Albeit, it is a given that movies have limited time to share each character's development, and hopefully, the show can achieve this over a couple of episodes.
Merging Storylines and Characters
Movies have an added disadvantage of a restricted runtime, thus shortening the story. The Disney+ show can thoroughly avoid this mess by hopefully prolonging things as needed. Each book in the Percy Jackson series is a component of the endgame and has its own noteworthy antagonists and quests to complete. It would be misleading for the audience if any storylines merged or overlapped.
However, unfortunately this was true in The Sea Of Monsters movie. The story misses prime events and characters like Circe and does not reveal much about the relationship between other characters and the impending antagonists. For an audience, it would be difficult to understand the open-ended plotholes and would leave the plot messier.
Ignoring Each Character's Arc
Despite doing well at the box office, the movies were harshly criticized for the lack of any character development or any feasible arcs. Each Percy Jackson character is as important as any other, and thus focusing only on one of them would take away from much of the appeal of the books.
The movies mainly focused on Percy, while Annabeth and Grover were seen as romantic interests or side characters, diminishing the scenes and storylines that focus on characters other than Percy. Given that the movies rushed with the narrative, hopefully the series gets a much better opportunity to introduce and grow the characters.
Unexpected Climatic Plots
The books compel the audience into the narrative differently than a movie or TV series, and though neither can match a book's depiction, the plot must at least be closely resembling. Changes in the movies were utterly unnecessary and took away from the future plotlines.
Luke, becoming the main villain in The Lightning Thief and no mention of Kronos in the disastrous final battle in the Sea of Monsters were changes that didn't contribute to the main plot. The story scripted in the movies was reshaped, but this didn't work in its favor. It left the fans confused, and the films haven't aged well since then.
Not Including The Main Creator Of The Story
The biggest mistake Disney+ seems to be avoiding is involving Rick Riordan directly in the creative process. The series has been in talks since 2020, and with the final green light, production is full speed ahead. Having the original writer involved, from casting to the scriptwriting to the direction, gives hope to the fans that this series may be more book accurate and finally bring Camp Half-Blood to the screens as it should be.
While the movies did have their own unique appeal, they deviated from the actual subplots and climax much more than the book fans would have liked. Having Rick Riordan onboard the Disney+ show secures its creative license with the original intent and hopefully leads to a better portrayal of the demigods onscreen.