“Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” a show recently added to the popular streaming service Disney+, was renewed for a second season as of Feb. 7. The first season of the show follows Rick Riordan’s first book in the “Percy Jackson” series, “The Lighting Thief.”
The show was highly anticipated by fans from all over for its shockingly similar adaptation to the book. With so much anticipation for the new show and great streaming numbers, it is only fitting that another season is coming out.
“Ultimately, I loved the new ‘Percy Jackson’ show,” said Lauren Chastain, a freshman mass communication major. “I loved the books when I was younger, and the show did a much better job at portraying the plot and characters than the movies did.”
Many fans seem to have loved the casting for the new show for how similar the characters’ personalities and style are to how they are in the book.
“I really enjoyed the show and its casting,” said Kellen O’Neil, a sophomore mass communication major. “Leah and Walker played Annabeth and Percy really well. They felt like actual portrayals of the characters in the book.”
“Waler Scobell, I feel, is just a very likable actor and brings out the funny and charismatic side of Percy Jackson,” said Ansley Herrin, a freshman art major. “He fits the role perfectly, and although he may not have been a direct resemblance of Percy in the books, I think personality-wise, he killed it.”
Season two of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” will be based on Riordan’s second book, “The Sea of Monsters.” With how well the first season did, fans are already captivated and starting to speculate interesting add-ins for the second season, turning the show into an even bigger event.
While production for season two has been approved, certain aspects of the first season seem to have fallen short. Fans have become meticulous about certain details that did not seem to quite fit.
“There were a few changes I didn’t necessarily love, and I thought the pacing could have been much better,” Chastain said.
“I thought their budget could’ve been spent better — like the last episode, when he pulls out the pen, and it transforms into a sword, it didn’t look good,” said Bobby Johnson, a freshman business major. “While casting was decent, I feel like many parts were rushed.”
In some cases, fans seemed the opposite of thrilled when watching the show because of certain characters.
“The actors are very young and don’t really share the personalities of the original characters,” said Juliana Simmons, a sophomore mass communication major.
“I hated Lin-Manuel Miranda’s casting,” O’Neil said. “It felt like I could only see him as Lin-Manuel Miranda from ‘Hamilton,’ so it threw me off compared to most of the actors, being unknown faces.”
One thing worth noting is that Percy Jackson is 12 years old in the books, but Walker Scobell was 14 during filming of season one. With no confirmation of when season two will air, fans worry about how much older Scobell will look, especially because in the second book, Jackson is only 13.
“I feel like makeup plays a huge role in it,” said Sofia Wilson, a freshman theatre major. “I myself have played characters seven years younger than me, and it’s all about how you stand and move your body. Practicing helped me achieve the look of being younger. Costumes, as well, can help.”
“I’m like halfway through, and it’s a good show, but I definitely do not like how young they made the characters this time,” Simmons said. “I would assume it would hold restrictions in a similar way that this season did.”
With very mixed emotions coming from fans, the show’s producers might have some things to tweak ever so slightly. Nonetheless, the first season did well, and season two will continue to enhance this franchise even more.
