Percy Jackson and the Olympians, a beloved book series with two movie adaptations, has recently been readapted yet again into a show for Disney+. The show stars Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson, Leah Jeffries as Annabeth Chase and Aryan Simhadri as Grover Underwood.
Unlike the movies, the show has the full cooperation of Rick Riordan, the author of the series and multiple others set in the same universe.
Casting Doubts
Since the cast of the new show was announced, many fans have brought into question the casting choices of the show. For example, in the books Annabeth is portrayed as a Caucasian female with light blonde hair and silver eyes. In the new series she is African-American and looks nothing like how the book describes.
People have many different opinions on Leah Jeffries’ casting. Some say that she was picked because she is a great actress and point to how she was also hand-selected by Rick Riordan himself.
Others argue that the actress’ lack of emotion in some scenes makes her nothing like Annabeth, and that deviating from her original looks as described in the book is purposeless.
While it may be true that this Annabeth’s looks are different, being picked by the author of the series is something that should prove Leah Jeffries was meant for the role. Percy and Grover’s looks are also different from their official art, so just saying that Annabeth’s appearance is wrong doesn’t make for a good argument.
Despite the controversy, many people have fallen in love with the cast, and some have fallen in love literally. South Forsyth freshman Sanaa Gupta says she developed a crush on Percy’s actor, Walker Scobell.
“I started having a crush on him when he was in The Adam Project,” Gupta said. “I think he is a great actor and his acting skills match his looks.”
Book or Movie?
Like every other book-to-screen adaptation, some scenes have to be added or changed to express the themes of the story better.
For example, in a scene with Hephaestus, the show changed “the trap” from the books to involve the Golden Throne, whereas originally in the book the trap involved Cupid statues and spiders. The scene was changed in order to better display the characters’ fatal flaws: Percy’s extreme loyalty, and Annabeth’s deadly pride.
Overall, it turned the scene from the book into an extreme test of integrity and loyalty, and it showed how much Annabeth and Percy already cared about each other, ultimately giving the viewers a deeper dive into each of their personalities.
On the other hand, the TV producers removed some details from the book, like the appearance of the hellhound after the fight between Percy and the Ares Cabin. Some think it is an important detail as it foreshadows the fact that there is more going on than what meets the eye.
Many also wished they took the scene from the movie in the Lotus Casino. Many fans always say it was iconic and hilarious and wanted it to be in the show, but unfortunately it wasn’t.
Is It a Good Adaptation?
When the Disney+ show was announced, people had high expectations for it, as it had the full cooperation of Rick Riordan himself. It also wouldn’t be that hard to make an adaptation better than the movies, which many people considered to be a failure.
As for now, some have said the pacing of the show is very bad, and have pointed out how they didn’t even introduce ambrosia and nectar, the food of the Olympian gods which was central to the plot of the book.
Others think that the casting is great, the visuals are amazing and way better than the movies, and that Camp Half-Blood is depicted very accurately compared to how it is portrayed in the books. They also like the little extra scenes that are added that aren’t in the book.
“I read the books a while ago, and I think the show did it justice,” said Amanda Rushton, a South Junior. “The cast and Mr. Riordan have done a good job.”
Overall, the majority of PJO fans believe that the adaptation did justice to the books, and portrays the characters much better than the movies did.
The critical reviews of the show prove this. The show’s Rotten Tomatoes score is almost twice that of the first movie, and it’s IMDb score is 1.5 times higher.
Ultimately, if the show is backed by Rick Riordan, and the author of the books thinks the show is right, people should probably listen to him.
Sources
“How is ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ different from the books?” by Belen Edwards from Mashable.com
