There's a lot of excitement for Disney+'s Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and author Rick Riordan has now shared some insights into how the show will differ from his original novels.
The movies aged up the characters and veered heavily from the source material, but with Walker Scobell playing Percy in this version, fans have high hopes. Recently, it has become clear fans can look forward to a more accurate take on the material than the poorly received movies and, as expected, the first book, The Lightning Thief, will be adapted during the show's first season.
Riordan has already confirmed we're getting noteworthy book moments like the Minotaur fight and Camp Half-Blood's Capture the Flag game, but there will be some changes. Now, the author has shared some insights into what those are going to look like.
"How much Percy content have we covered? Put it this way: If you were following along in the book, we have pretty much filmed through chapter nine in The Lightning Thief," he explains. "That’s a big chunk of the story, but there is a massive amount of fun and games still to come! And yes, the filming has followed the book story very closely, almost as if the author were involved himself!"
"Sure, there are small tweaks and changes here and there, which were mutually agreed upon, but the biggest difference is the ‘value added.’ You will get peeks at character backstory, foreshadowing Easter eggs of things to come, and nuances in Percy’s family history that I think you will love," Riordan added. "The neat thing about revisiting this tale, almost twenty years after I first wrote it, is that I get to address some of the questions that fans have asked me over the years."
"'What does this mean?' 'Why does this happen the way it does?' 'What would happen if...?' It’s been really satisfying and fun."
Some changes were inevitable as what works on the page doesn't always work on screen. However, this sounds like a far more accurate take on the characters and world this story takes place in, something we're sure will be welcomed by longtime fans. With any luck, more details will be revealed during next month's Disney+ Day.
Riordan recently shared an update on when we could see Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney+. Find that here.