The upcoming Percy Jackson and the Olympians television series will include the Minotaur, according to author Rick Riordan. The forthcoming series for Disney+ will adapt the first book in Riordan's saga, The Lightning Thief, and is already shaping up to be a more faithful adaptation than its 2010 big screen counterpart. Percy Jackson will star Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries, and Aryan Simhadri as the core trio of characters.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians follows the titular Percy as he discovers his blood ties to the Greek gods of Olympus. He then must set off on a journey to save his mother from Hades, battling monsters from Greek mythology along the way. Riordan is much more involved in the new adaptation, writing for Percy Jackson and creating a series bible. He has also provided notes for the early footage of Percy Jackson, already saying it's closer to his vision and the books themselves. In case fans were still worried about the latter, Riordan's latest update provides some relief.
On his website, Riordan mentions how the production of Percy Jackson is ongoing, and how it will include the Minotaur, who appears in the first book. He doesn't mention when the Minotaur will appear in the season, but if it's faithful to the book, it'll be the second monster Percy meets and the one that abducts his mother. Read Riordan's quote below:
And now, it’s back to TV land. I’m off for another exciting day of production. I think we may be meeting the Minotaur today (who, by the way, also makes an appearance in The Divine Comedy).
The Minotaur plays an important role in The Lightning Thief, not only for abducting Percy's mother and driving the story, but for helping Percy realize his destiny as a demigod and setting up his character arc. With early footage showing off Camp Half-Blood, an important location in Percy Jackson, it's likely the show is going to feature the Minotaur battle at a similar point in the story. With the season 1 being a modest eight episodes, it's likely the creators will try to limit the monster encounters to the most important ones in the story. The Minotaur moment could very well arrive within Percy Jackson episode 1, serving as the ultimate kickoff for the show's mythology-fueled action.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians is already shaping up to be a much more faithful and much more interesting adaptation than the 2010 film, which was criticized for having very few similarities to the book. Disney still has their work cut out for them in adapting such a seminal piece of modern YA fiction to the screen. Still, their early steps have been positive ones. With Riordan's continued involvement and attention to detail, Percy Jackson and the Olympians could capture the humor and excitement of the books the previous adaptation couldn't.
Source: Rick Riordan