The day has finally come—Percy Jackson and the Olympians has an official release date!
Disney+ released a teaser trailer for the hotly anticipated show on 18 August, as well as announcing the official premiere date of 20 December 2023.
Based on the bestselling Percy Jackson and the Olympians book series by Rick Riordan, the show will follow the set-up of the first book, The Lightening Thief. Specifically, it’ll follow the escapades of 12-year-old Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell), after he discovers he is the son of the Greek god Poseidon. Joined by his best friends Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries), and Grover (Aryan Simhadri), Percy must find and return Zeus’s infamous lightning bolt to the home of the gods, battling monsters and enemies at every turn.
The trailer gives us a glimpse of the trio, as well as the official introduction of Ares (Adam Copeland), a character who was notably absent from the previous movie adaptations of Percy Jackson. The trailer also includes a brief shot of Jessica Parker Kennedy as snake-haired Medusa, a memorable enemy in the first book.
A series of title cards in signature blue tell us “The gods are waiting”, which is reinforced by Lance Reddick’s voiceover as Zeus: “Percy Jackson, we’ve been expecting you.”
The show was first announced back in May 2020 by Rick Riordan himself and has been enthusiastically anticipated ever since. The book series was previously adapted for the big screen in 2010, but the sheer number of differences to the books led to poor fan reception, resulting in only two films being made. Though, fans are sure to be onboard with the upcoming Disney+ series as Rick Riordan is taking an instrumental role—as a creator and developer. With eight episodes promised, the series will have more room to breathe, allowing for much of the source material to remain.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians premieres with two episodes on Disney Plus on 20 December this year.
Words by Emily Nutbean
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