Attention Demigods: We Have a New Trailer for “Percy Jackson and the Olympians”

Just a little less than a month since the first teaser dropped for Disney+’s upcoming Percy Jackson and the Olympians, we’ve got another, longer trailer!

The first teaser succeeded in building hype for the long-awaited series (at least on my end), based on the novels by best-selling author Rick Riordan. But as you may recall, there was precious little revealed. The latest trailer sheds a little more light on Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell), his friends Grover Underwood (Aryan Simhadri) and Annabeth Chase (Leah Sava Jeffries), and the heroic quest they must embark on at the direction of Mount Olympus.

First of all, we’re told the quest! Zeus’s master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy and his friends are charged (no pun intended) with finding and returning it. Along the way, they’ll be tested by monsters and gods alike.

I can already tell that the series will follow the books more closely than the 2010 film did. (We don’t talk about that.) For starters, as I’ve said before, I really appreciate that they cast actors who are closer in age to what the characters were in the books, rather than aging them up.

Also, while there are hints about Percy’s godly parent, at least they didn’t just spoil the reveal in the trailer. (Although the movie did not treat the reveal as the big deal that it was, because they changed so much about the plot that it didn’t even matter, and I’m getting off track here, sorry about that.) We see that he is brought to Hermes’ cabin at the start. We also get some more shots of Ares, who wasn’t even in the movie, despite having a pretty large role in the book.

We’re also given some more glimpses of what I presume to be Mount Olympus and the Underworld, some more scenes from the insane version of Capture the Flag that they play at Camp Half-Blood, and our first sight of the minotaur.

One thing I noticed was the inclusion of Percy’s pen, which when uncapped turns into a sword. Demigods are often given a gift from their godly parent that has special abilities. For example, Annabeth has a baseball cap that turns the wearer invisible. I didn’t see it in the trailer, but I do hope that makes it into the series. I also love the bit where you can see that Percy has trouble reading, which is a trait inherent in all demigods. (Riordan wrote the series for his son, who has dyslexia.)

Also, I absolutely love the version of “Riptide” they’re using.

Basically, I have slid past “cautiously optimistic” to “full on freaking out”. I really hope that this series does well and gets the adaptation that the books deserve. If you haven’t read the books yet, you absolutely should, but even if you haven’t, you should check out the series when it premieres in December.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians also stars Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hermes), Megan Mullally (Alecto aka Mrs. Dodds), Toby Stephens (Poseidon), Virginia Kull (Sally Jackson), Jason Mantzoukas (Dionysus aka Mr. D), Jay Duplass (Hades), Glynn Turman (Chiron aka Mr. Brunner), the late Lance Reddick (Zeus), Adam Copeland (Ares), Charlie Bushnell (Luke Castellan), Dior Goodjohn (Clarisse La Rue), Jessica Parker Kennedy (Medusa), Olivea Morton (Nancy Bobofit), Suzanne Cryer (Echidna), Timm Sharp (Gabe Ugliano), and Timothy Omundson (Hephaestus).

Percy Jackson and the Olympians premieres on Disney+ on December 20 with two episodes, followed by new episodes weekly. There will be eight episodes total in season 1.

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

Twitter

Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.

Copyright © The Geekiary