The Disney Plus series Percy Jackson and the Olympians follows a 12-year-old demigod and forbidden son of the Greek God Posideon, Percy Jackson. Accused of stealing Zeus’s powerful lightning bolt, Percy, along with his friends Annabeth and Grover, must embark on a perilous journey to save Percy’s mother from Hades and return the lightning bolt to Zeus to prevent a war among the gods.
Along his journey, Percy battles monsters, gods, demigods, and even friends to complete his quest, save the world, and discover what it truly means to be a demigod.
The series perfectly translates the plot from the first book, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, into a visually stunning, emotional, and gripping television show. One of the strongest features of this show is the well-crafted character development. This is shown through Percy Jackson and his companions growing and evolving and becoming closer friends as they face gods, monsters, and demigods.
The show is exclusive to Disney Plus for anyone who wants to watch it and is rated TV-PG for containing violence, some language, and alcohol. It is an action-adventure, family, and fantasy series.
Though this series was well received, there are some suggestions from critics and fans on ways that the show could be even better. Some of the biggest complaints include the episodes being too short and arguably rushed, the series being too childish at times compared to the books, characters looking different than they were depicted in the books, and minor story changes from the books. However, none of these complaints stop the series from being arguably the most entertaining and best film adaptation of Percy Jackson yet and has been very positively received.
I score this gripping and exceptional show a 9/10 because it stayed interesting throughout, the CGI was seamless, and the cast were fans of the book series who did their best to help the show succeed. “We’re all pretty big fans before we even started filming. I read the books when I was in fifth grade,” lead actor Walker Scobell said during a virtual interview with PTI.
Almost every scene and character in the show could be connected back to the books, unlike the past two movies. An example of this is how Ares was included in the show but not the movies.
Season one of the show ended on January 20, 2024. The series was officially renewed for a second season which will most likely be released in 2025 on Disney Plus.
