Percy Jackson author promises huge change to TV show after film ‘missed the mark’

The early 2000s were filled with epic teen franchises and riding that wave came beloved book series Percy Jackson but it’s movie form failed to make a splash.

While The Lightning Thief may have cemented star Logan Lerman as everyone’s favourite white boy of the month, those who had read the original Olympians book series were less than impressed.

Despite introducing his books to a wider and eager audience, author Rick Riordan has never watched the original adaptation and told Metro.co.uk how it ‘missed the mark’.

After over a decade sat in Fox’s archives, Disney’s purchase of the studio means, finally, fans of the series will get to see Percy’s potential realised in a much anticipated new TV show on Disney Plus.

For the uninitiated, Percy Jackson and the Olympians follows titular Percy who discovers his father is a Greek god (a major one that) and now must rush to Camp Half-Blood to hone his skills alongside other demi-gods and mythic creatures.

Of course, this is not without peril as the smart mouthed son of Poseidon can’t help but get into plenty of trouble – the world ending prophecy kind, at that.

Rick Riordan wrote the original book series almost two decades ago (Picture: Scott Garfitt/Disney+/REX/Shutterstock)

The show is an adaptation of the books not a remake of the films (Picture: Disney Plus)

Walker Scobell takes on the role of titular Percy Jackson (Picture: Disney/David Bukach)

While he is aware of the place the first movie has in many fans’ hearts, Rick is quick to point out that this TV show is an adaptation of his beloved books – not those films.

The 59-year-old author explained: ‘I’ve never seen the movies. Many people love the films and I am aware of that and the actors are incredibly talented.

‘However, as an adaptation of Percy Jackson the books? It missed the mark by a long shot, in my opinion.’

He continued: ‘One of the reasons we wanted to do this again now and as a TV show is that a television show allows us to properly tell the story over eight episodes that in a 90 minute movie you simply can’t do.’

Criticisms of the original adaptation often focused on the condensing, merging and abandoning of plotlines in favour of big scenes and showdowns.

‘The other thing is that Percy’s story is a coming of age story,’ Rick added. ‘It’s about a boy who is growing into a young man and learning who he is and when you have an actor who’s 18 you that you can’t tell that story.

‘It’s a different story and the tone was just different. It wasn’t, in my opinion, what it needed to be. So that’s what we’re trying to achieve this time around.’

Newcomer Walker Scobell has stepped into Percy’s flying shoes to an overwhelming applause as the TV adaptation with two episodes already out has instantly won over fans and critics with a strong 97% approval on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

Youngster Walker is joined by Leah Jeffries as Annabeth Chase and Aryan Simhadri as Grover Underwood – Percy’s junior protector and half-goat best friend.

Rick promises some plots have been modernised from his own writing (Picture: Disney)

Leah Jeffries is Annabeth Chase after beating out thousands (Picture: Disney)

Aryan Simhadri has the honour of being Percy’s satyr bestie Grover (Picture: Disney)

The author’s critical eye hasn’t just been focused on the movies though, as he has also revisited his own writing and made conscious changes to reflect a modern society.

He teased: ‘We did change quite a few things. We refreshed the story to make sure that it’s still relevant and it feels contemporary and sensible for the year 2023. It was written in 2005. That’s a long time ago. So we were open to that.

‘One example would be the Medusa story. I think it’s much more nuanced and much more powerful in the TV show than when I wrote it in the book, because it talks about Medusa from Medusa’s point of view, and she has her own agency and her own voice and we were able to explore that in the show the way we really weren’t in the book.’

Famously in the movies Percy defeats snake-haired Medusa by using the back of his iPod touch as a mirror but even those who have read how it unfolds in the the book will also be in store for some surprises.

The series has some surprises in store (Picture: Disney)

The famed trio could be in for five seasons or more (Picture: Disney)

Rick says he’s ‘honoured’ to be part of people’s happiness (Picture: Disney)

Medusa, as with many female characters in Greek myth, has been reimagined by modern creators as a victim of ruthless misogyny and abuse, something Percy Jackson may lean into before they chop off her head (spoilers).

One major change which caused a stir online was the decision to cast 14-year-old Leah as Percy’s friend Annabeth, who is described in the novels as white.

It’s not hard to see why Leah was chosen to play the headstrong and sharp daughter of Athena though, as Rick revealed she was constantly inquisitive on set.

‘She wanted to talk motivation, she came up and said “hi, Mr. Rick, now tell me what is her relationship with her mom, Athena? Let’s talk about that.” I said, “Wow, this young woman is really serious about her role and her craft.”,’ Rick laughed.

He explained they were simply looking for the essence of that character, rather than ticking boxes for a physical description written in 2005, and believes they ‘nailed it’.

While he isn’t afraid to ruffle feathers – or should that be change tides? – the author is ‘honoured’ by the fan sentiment towards the world he created.

He said: ‘It’s always an honour to know that I’ve been part of people’s lives and if I can bring them some joy and happiness and you know life is hard, and we need stories to make us feel better and to make us feel that there’s hope in the world and that’s a wonderful feeling.

‘Just seeing the reaction so far, it’s a major relief to me. It’s just nice to know that we work so hard for so long and people seem to love it.’

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is now streaming on DisneyPlus with new episodes weekly.

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‘It wasn’t what it needed to be.’