A former Bond villian is unrecognisable in the new Percy Jackson TV series (Picture: Disney)

A former James Bond star is totally unrecognisable in the new Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.

Hitting screens last month, the eight-episode series is based on the book series of the same name and stars Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson, alongside Leah Sava Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri.

It follows the 12-year-old demigod Percy, who is accused by the Greek god Zeus of stealing his thunderbolt and races to find it and restore order to Olympus.

This week, on the penultimate episode, Percy’s father Poseidon made his debut, with actor Toby Stephens stepping into the role of the God of the sea.

In a flashback scene, he was seen speaking to his son’s mother Sally Jackson (Virginia Kull), who told him she wanted to raise her son among humans rather than send him to Camp Halfblood.

The appearance came more than 20 years after Toby, 54, appeared in the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day, with the actor looking very different to his past role.

Toby Stephens previously starred in 2002’s Die Another Day (Picture: MGM/Everett/Shutterstock)

In that film, he played villain Gustav Graves alongside Pierce Brosnan.

After that project the actor, who is the son of Dame Maggie Smith and Sir Robert Stephens, went on to appear in the 2006 BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre.

Then, from 2014 to 2017, he starred as Captain Flint in the Starz television series Black Sails, followed by one of the lead roles in the Netflix science fiction series Lost in Space from 2018 to 2021.

In an interview about his role on Percy Jackson, Toby spoke about the ‘sleaze bag’ role he had taken on.

He made his long-awaited appearance as Poseidon in this week’s episode (Picture: Disney)

‘If you go back to the original Greek myths, they were total sleaze bags,’ he told TVLine.

‘Zeus and Poseidon, they were all going around siring children all over the place.

‘They were morally, pretty feckless. They didn’t care very much.’

With one episode left to go now, viewers and critics alike have praised the series, with many labelling it a ’10/10 watch’.

The actor has also appeared in Black Sails and Lost in Space (Picture: Frederic J Brown/
AFP via Getty Images)

‘The penultimate episode of Percy Jackson is so so good. 10/10 no notes for me,’ X user Emma Jaclyn posted.

Others praised the moment they were finally introduced to Poseidon on screen.

‘THIS MOMENT, THIS MOMENT, the chemistry, the acting, the music, the script, my god! Or rather my Poseidon,’ a Toby Stephens fan page shared.

‘My gosh! Percy Jackson Episode 7 was so great. Toby Stephens is so well cast as Poseidon, and his scene with Virginia Kull was so emotional. I’m not ready for the final episode next week!’ Elliot Bullock wrote.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is streaming on Disney Plus.

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He is also the son of two very famous actors.