Summary

Percy Jackson and the Olympians has received stellar reviews from both critics and audiences, living up to the promise of a faithful adaptation. The series has surpassed the original movies in terms of critical and audience approval, with the series being labeled “the adaptation we deserve.” The casting choices, although differing slightly from the book descriptions, were made based on the actors’ ability to carry the roles.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians arrived on Disney+ with a Rotten Tomatoes audience score that almost matched the stellar critics’ reviews. The series, based on the books of Rick Riordan, had promised to deliver a faithful adaptation of the novels and so far it seems to be living up that high order.

The Percy Jackson franchise was originally adapted into two feature films, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief in 2010 and Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters in 2013, but both movies suffered some heavy criticism and were disowned by Riordan for completely failing to capture the magic of the source material. Jump forward to 2023, and despite coming under some early online attacks for the race-swapping of certain characters, including one of the movie’s young trio of protagonists, the show has landed with scores that put all of those complaints to bed once and for all.

The series has already scored big with early reviews from critics, debuting with a near-perfect 98%, and still now holding a 95% approval rate – double that of the original movie. With many of those reviews making particular note of the care and attention that has gone into making a show that is worthy of its source material, but also doesn’t shut out those unfamiliar with Riordan’s universe, the first audience reviews have continued the glowing response. Sitting on a 92% audience score, audiences have been quick to label the series “the adaptation we deserve.”

Related: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Who Will Be the Most Powerful Demigod?

Percy Jackson’s new Annabeth Chase was Personally Cast by Riordan
Disney+

Percy Jackson and the Olympians stars a trio of talented up-and-coming stars, with Walker Scobell in the titular role, Aryan Simhadri as Grover Underwood and Leah Jeffries as Annabeth Chase. When the casting of the lead roles were originally announced, there was a fair amount of online backlash against the casting of Jeffries as Annabeth, a character who was white in the novels.

However, the reaction to the casting was something that author Riordan had a personal hand in, and he had some wise words for Jeffries when it came to how certain groups would react to the news. Speaking to Comicbook.com, Jeffries recalled Riordan telling her that he had personally chosen her for the role, and she should not worry what anyone else thought of the decision. She said:

“He said, ‘No matter what people will say about you, remember, I picked you.’ That was something right there. The way how he said it too: ‘Remember, if anybody says anything about you, just remember, I’m the one that picked you.’ Coming from the creator of all of this, I was like, I made it now.”

Of course, it is easily argued that none of the series leads look exactly like their descriptions in the novels, but the casting choices were made on who could carry the roles of those characters. Based on the reaction to the series now it has arrived, there are few willing to argue the point that the right choices were not made.