Disney+ recently announced who will play two of the most important Greek gods in the Percy Jackson series. According to Comicbook, Toby Stephens (Lost in Space, Black Sails) will be playing Poseidon, the Greek god of the seas, and Lance Reddick (John Wick, Bosch) will star as the all-mighty Zeus, the leader of the Greek gods and god of the skies. Disney+ announced this via an Instagram post on their main account.
According to Comicbook, the Percy Jackson series has been in development for the past couple of years with author Rick Riordan (The Kane Chronicles, Magnus Chase, and the Gods of Asgard) serving as one of the executive producers. Riordan announced the adaptation in May 2020 but it wasn’t until the cast announcements began in April 2022 that the excitement about the series started in earnest. The series is scheduled to finish filming at the end of January 2023.
Most of the main cast has been announced with Percy Jackson being played by Walker Scobell (The Adam Project, Secret Headquarters); Leah Jeffries (Empire, Beast) starring as Annabeth Chase; and Aryan Simhadri (Cheaper by the Dozen, The Casagrandes) as Grover Underwood. Other supporting characters include Charlie Bushnell (Diary of Future President) as Luke Castellan; Glynn Turman (The Devil You Know, Black-ish) as Chiron the trainer of heroes; Dior Goodjohn (Head of the Class, Raven’s Home) as Clarisse La Rue; Jessica Parker Kennedy (Black Sails, The Flash) will star as the Greek monster Medusa; Virginia Kull (Big Little Lies, The Looming Tower) as Sally Jackson, Percy’s mother, and Timm Sharp (On the Verge, Together Together) will play Gabe Ugliano, Percy’s mean stepfather.
Other cast members playing Greek gods include Adam Copeland (Vikings, Money Plane) playing the god of war Ares; Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, His Dark Materials) as the messenger god Hermes; Jason Mantzoukas (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Close Enough) as the god of wine Dionysus; Jay Duplass (Transparent, The Mindy Project) as the god of the Underworld Hades, and Timothy Omundson (This Is Us, Psych) as the god of blacksmiths Hephaestus.
Percy Jackson and The Lighting Thief follows Percy, a young boy who discovers that his father is a Greek god. This discovery brings him trouble and causes him to encounter monsters on his way to a secret summer camp for demigod children. Once he arrives at Camp Half-Blood, Percy becomes friends with Annabeth Chase, and Grover Underwood a satyr. After some days in the camp, news arrive that the Greek god Zeus has lost his master lightning bolt and suspects that Percy has stolen it. To prove his innocence, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover must go on a quest to retrieve the lightning bolt and find the real lighting thief.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians will premiere on Disney+ sometime in 2024. The Percy Jackson films are available to watch on Disney+. Don’t forget to watch the teaser trailer below.