A Percy Jackson series is officially coming to Disney+, confirms author Rick Riordan. The Percy Jackson & the Olympians series began in 2005 with The Lightning Thief and spanned five novels in total. The series concluded in 2009, though a sequel series, The Heroes of Olympus, began a year later. Also included in Riordan's expansive universe is the Trials of Apollo series, which will come to an end later this year. Still, it all began with Percy, a twelve-year-old boy who discovers he's a demigod and embarks on a quest to stop the rise of the evil Titan Kronos. Along the way, he's aided by his friends and other Greek mythological figures, all of whom exist alongside the real world.
The first two books in the series, The Lightning Thief and The Sea of Monsters, were previously adapted into feature films in 2010 and 2013 and starred Logan Lerman as Percy. While The Lightning Thief made a decent $226.4 million worldwide, Sea of Monsters came in behind that total with $199.8. Financial performance aside, the films failed to win over fans of the books. Aside from misrepresenting characters and mixing certain events around, the Percy Jackson films simply couldn't recapture the magic of the books.
Now, Percy Jackson will get his shot at redemption with a new series from Disney+. Rumors about a possible Percy Jackson series have swirled for a while now, but Riordan himself has finally confirmed the news online with a quick video. Aside from mentioning that it's taken a lot of hard work and support from fans, Riordan promised more information would come later. You can see the announcement video below:
News of a brand new Percy Jackson adaptation is sure to cause excitement among fans who were let down by the films. Riordan has famously shared his disappointment with the films, so his enthusiasm for this new series (and the simple fact that he's allowing it at all) bodes well for what's to come. Plus, a series can probably do a better job of translating Percy's journey, as it'll have more time for proper character development and all the essential story beats. Percy Jackson was made available to Disney after they purchased Fox, and fans hope Disney can give the witty young demigod his fair shot.
Amusingly, Percy Jackson isn't the only property hoping to fix the wrongs of a previous adaptation. This situation feels similar to what's happening with Avatar: The Last Airbender, the Nickelodeon series that was made into a truly terrible film and is now getting remade as a Netflix series. It'll likely be some time before Percy Jackson makes its way onto Disney+, but even just the simple news that it's actually happening will likely be enough to satisfy fans for now. Plus, it's hard not to be happy with Riordan's own joy, especially considering his previous experiences with adaptations. Hopefully this one will actually do him proud.
Source: Rick Riordan/Twitter