Percy Jackson and the Olympians is coming to Disney+ this December, and the streamer has released the first photos of the adult guest stars of the highly anticipated TV adaptation of Rick Riordan‘s beloved novels. The photos were unveiled during the Percy Jackson New York Comic Con panel (which TV Insider attended) on Sunday, October 15, and the extensive footage shown to the audience at the event proved this show is a must-see this winter.
Attendees were treated to the first seven minutes of the series premiere, plus an exclusive look at the Minotaur and capture the flag scenes fans of the books know well. Explaining all of the first-look content were executive producers Jon Steinberg, Dan Shotz, and James Bobin (who also directed the first two episodes), production designer Dan Hennah, costume designer Tish Monaghan, VFX supervisor Erik Henry, and ILM VFX supervisor Jeff White.
Plus, Riordan and his wife, Becky Riordan, also made a surprise appearance at the end of the panel to introduce the capture the flag scene. Riordan is a co-creator, executive producer, and writer on the series, and his wife is an executive producer.
Shotz got choked up when speaking about the late Lance Reddick, who plays Zeus in the series. The actor died in March of this year. Zeus is one of his final roles. Shotz said they all became quite close with Reddick while filming Season 1 and are proud to have Percy Jackson be part of his legacy.
Zeus is one of the many adult guest stars in Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Like the Harry Potter franchise, Percy Jackson focuses on a young cast, with a star-studded list of adult actors joining in supporting roles. The most pivotal of the early episodes will be Percy’s mother, Sally Jackson, played by Virginia Kull. Glynn Turman plays the centaur Chiron, known to Percy (Walker Scobell) as Mr. Brunner, and then there’s Megan Mullally as the monster Alecto, aka Mrs. Dodds. Mr. Brunner and Mrs. Dodds are in disguise as teachers at Percy’s school, but only one of them has Percy’s best interests at heart.
Based on Disney Hyperion’s best-selling book series by award-winning author Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians tells the fantastical story of a 12-year-old modern demigod, Percy Jackson, who’s just coming to terms with his newfound divine powers when the sky god Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt. With help from his friends Grover (Aryan Simhadri) and Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries), Percy must embark on an adventure of a lifetime to find it and restore order to Olympus.
The series premieres with its first two episodes on December 20. See Reddick, Mullally, Turman, Kull, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Timothy Omundson, Toby Stephens, Jason Mantzoukas, and more in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians cast gallery below.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Series Premiere, Wednesday, December 20, Disney+
