According to Variety, Percy Jackson’s pantheon of actors is getting some faces to match the divine roles. Ming-Na Wen (Mulan, Velma), Jennifer Beals (Flashdance, The Book Of Boba Fett), and Hubert Smielecki (Ransom Canyon) have even cast as gods in the Disney+ series.
Variety has reported that Wen will play the “Queen of Olympus, Wife to Zeus, Hera. In Greek Mythology, she was known to be quite the thorn in Hercules’s side due to his birth being a product of infidelity. Hera is also the Goddess of Marriage, so her dislike of Demigods extends beyond just her own spouses’ trysts in the human world. Her character in The Percy Jackson series will likely hold similar grudges.Beals will step in as the goddess of the Harvest, Demeter. A sibling to Zeus and Hera, she deeply understands the threat that her father, Kronos, poses. She will do anything to ensure the Titan, who once cannibalized her, does not return to the world of the living.Lastly, we have the star of the show. By that, I mean he will be playing Apollo, the god of the sun. Smielecki will hopefully shine as the brother of Artemis and the god of the sun, poetry, and music.
According to Variety, the series follows Percy Jackson played by Walker Scobell (The Adam Project, Secret Headquarters), a boy who struggles with ADHD and Dyslexia, as he discovers he is not only a demigod, but a son of one of the most powerful gods on Mount Olympus, Poseidon. Percy travels to Camp Half-Blood, where he meets old and new friends, Grover played by Aryan Simhadri (Freakier Friday, Sander’s Shorts) and Annabeth played by Leah Sava Jeffries (Beast, Rel). This trio must undertake several dangerous quests in order to prevent the return of the Titan, Kronos. Other members of the cast include, Charlie Bushnell (Diary Of A Future President, In The Know), Dior Goodjohn (Are You Afraid Of The Dark, Head Of Class), Daniel Diemer (The Old Man, Under The Bridge) and Tamara Smart (Resident Evil, The Wayfinders).
The Percy Jackson Series was produced as a film franchise in 2010. The films only adapted the first two novels, The Lightning Thief and The Sea of Monsters. This upcoming season of Disney+ series will be the first time that The Titans Curse ever makes it to the screen.
The success of Percy Jackson And The Olympians possibly spurred the revival of another failed fantasy YA series. The Inheritance Cycle’s first book, Eragon, was adapted into a film back in 2006. The film was widely panned by fans and critics alike, particularly for taking liberties with the source material. According to Deadline, a new series is in Development at Disney+ with author Christopher Paolini (The Fork, The Witch) executive producing.
According to Variety, the series is co-created by original author Rick Riordan (Heros Of Olympus, The Court Of The Dead) in collaboration with Jonathon E. Steinberg (The Old Man, Black Sails). Other executive producers include Craig Silverstein (Pantheon, The Old Man) and Dan Shotz (The Old Man, See) , who act as showrunners with Steinberg, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein (The Maze Runner, Washington Black), Jeremy Bell (Juror #2, Tiger 24), D.J. Goldberg (Whiteout, Spiderwick Chronicles), Bert Salke (First Wave, Boomtown), James Bobin (Muppets Most Wanted, Muppets), Jim Rowe (Godzilla, Zach Synder’s Justice League), Albert Kim (Nikita Sleepy Hollow), Jason Ensler (Will Trent, Wolf Pack), and Sarah Watson (The Middleman, The Unsuals).