Rick Riordan recently released a set photo from the upcoming Disney+ Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, and it proves that the show is already avoiding a mistake from the movies when it comes to Annabeth’s character. Despite the popularity of Riordan’s Percy Jackson books, the previous movie adaptations from 20th Century Fox left a lot to be desired. As well as aging up the characters from the novels, the movies omitted certain key character details and changed the stories unnecessarily. Now, however, with Riordan on board as a writer and executive producer, the Disney+ Percy Jackson series is keen to give these characters and narratives the adaptation they deserve. While the Percy Jackson teaser released at D23 proved that Walker Scobell’s Percy is certainly heading in the right direction, a new Percy Jackson set photo confirms that Annabeth Chase (Leah Jeffries) will be portrayed much more faithfully as well, including a key character detail that was inexplicably missing from the movies.
The photo shows Leah Jeffries on the Percy Jackson set during a celebration for her birthday, providing a fun behind-the-scenes glimpse at the production process. Eagle-eyed fans, however, will have noticed a blue Yankees cap sticking out of one of Jeffries’ pockets. The Yankees cap is a key character detail from the Percy Jackson books, and its inclusion here suggests that the show is taking a vastly different approach to its portrayal of Annabeth – one that focuses more on her relationship with her parents and her growth as a character.
Why Annabeth's Yankees Cap Is So Important In Percy Jackson
In the Percy Jackson books, Annabeth’s Yankees cap was a gift from her mother Athena, given to her for her twelfth birthday. Athena is the Greek goddess of wisdom, as well as strategy, defensive warfare, mathematics, and the arts. Annabeth inherited a lot of these qualities from her mother, including her wit and a broad range of knowledge. Though Annabeth looks up to her mother, she also feels quite distant from her, just as she feels distant from her father. The Yankees cap symbolizes that divide – as it gives the wearer the magical ability to become invisible, Annabeth often uses it when she is forced to be vulnerable and needs to acknowledge her pride and her strained relationship with her parents within the Percy Jackson story.
Though the Yankees cap is symbolic of Annabeth’s relationship with her mother and her hesitance to be vulnerable with those she cares about, it is also much more. The Yankees cap’s ability to make the wearer invisible is also an inherently useful tool in battle. Annabeth uses it frequently during such times, employing it to trick her enemies or eavesdrop on important conversations. It’s interesting to note that she’s only ever let two other people use the Yankees cap – Percy Jackson himself, and Carter Kane, a character from the book series The Kane Chronicles, which details the rise of the Egyptian gods in the modern world. At present, Rick Riordan's The Kane Chronicles is set to be adapted into a series of feature movies by Netflix.
The Percy Jackson Show Already Sounds So Much Better Than The Movies
The Percy Jackson book series is about more than just cool action set-pieces and showing the power of the Greek gods. It’s about kids discovering and accepting their identities, the challenges of growing up in the shadow of their infamous parents and becoming their own person in the process. The films largely neglected that part of the story, especially when it came to Annabeth Chase’s character – whose fatal flaw of pride was altered into mere arrogance in the previous films – so it’s reassuring to know that her Yankees cap will make an appearance in the show and be a part of her character’s journey in Disney’s version of Percy Jackson.
The latest news, footage, and images of the Percy Jackson production are enough to assure audiences that this latest attempt at an adaptation is already much more faithful than the previous movies. Walker Scobell voicing Percy’s opening monologue from the books, and the inclusion of one of Annabeth’s most important character details suggest that Riordan is making it his mission to ensure that this adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians captures what made these characters and stories so popular around the world.