The cast and creators ofPercy Jackson and the Olympiansseason 2 have promised that Percy’s hero’s journey will be even bigger and more fantastical this time around. While the early ’10s film adaptations ofRick Riordan’s belovedPercy Jacksonbookswere … middling, to say the least, the Disney+ series adaptation has proven to be a massive, more book-accurate hit.
Percy Jackson and the Olympiansseason 2will, therefore, be more terrifying, more monstrous, and more epic, just as the second book in the firstPercy Jacksonseries is. As executive producer Craig Silverstein toldEntertainment Weekly,“They sail off the map, straight into the Sea of Monsters, which doesn’t exist. We had to create it at all. We had to make it even bigger.”
Rather than watching the kids go on an extended all-American road trip, encountering Greek myths in garden centers, Percy (Walker Scobell) and Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries) will set sail to one of the most terrifying places on Earth: the Bermuda Triangle. When Jeffries spoke toEntertainment Weekly, the actress said,“This season, it’s several quests going on at once. It almost felt like everything was a complete upgrade.”
As Jeffries notes, she and Percy are not the only ones heading out on a life-altering journey. Grover (Aryan Simhadri) is looking for the Greek god Pan, Luke (Charlie Bushnell) is intent on destroying Camp Half-Blood, and Clarisse (Dior Goodjohn) will be leading a ship full of ghostly war veterans on a dangerous yet sanctioned quest.
Silverstein and Jeffries aren’t alone in their excitement about season 2’s grand scope. Simhadri shared similar thoughts, though he did lament his time spent getting wet.“It’s going to be a lot bigger, a lot more epic, a lot wetter. I haven’t been dry in a year or two.”
What This Means For Percy Jackson And The Olympians Season 2
Production Became Much More Practical
While much ofPercy Jacksonseason 1 was shot on The Volume – a massive LED-screen stage that allows digital backgrounds and landscapes to be altered in real-time – most ofPercy Jackson and the Olympiansseason 2 was filmed on location and practical sets. Silverstein explained:
“It [The Volume] was really great technology, but it was also a bit limiting, where you could move the actors and stuff. Because we were going on the water this season in the Sea of Monsters, we realized that we weren’t going to be using it as much. That forced us to get practical.”
They didn’t just build the Sea of Monsters, though. They also built a chariot racetrack, a cruise ship, a jungle cave, a tropical island, and a"giant, ironclad warship.“What does all of that have to do with the new season, though?
Well, as it turns out,Scobell’s Percy Jackson isn’t the only focus of season 2. Whereas he’s the only narrator in theSea of Monstersbook, we’re getting multiple perspectives this time around, giving the audience a clearer (and more objective) view of everything else going on in the Greek demigod world.
As Goodjohn reasoned,“The book series is just Percy’s journal, and it’s almost as if it’s the unreliable narrator’s version of what happened. Watching the show is like, ‘Oh, so that’s what really happened.'“Book fans will have a lot of new, non-book scenes to look forward to this season.
Our Take On Percy Jackson And The Olympians Season 2
A Bigger, Bolder, Yet Still Book-Accurate Adaptation
It’s clear the cast and creators have put a great deal of effort into season 2, and I love the idea that we’re getting to see more of other characters’ perspectives this time around. This isn’t even new territory for Riordan’s books:the second series of Percy Jackson novels,The Heroes of Olympus, utilizes multiple, third-person points of view.
When adapting books for TV and movies, there’s always the question of how to stay true to the story while providing audiences with a bigger, more epic narrative that works in a visual medium. It seems likePercy Jackson and the Olympiansseason 2 has managed to find that balance; hopefully, they’ll be able to keep that momentum going as they head into the now-in-production season 3.
Percy Jackson and the Olympiansseason 2 premieres on Disney+ in December.
