The star-studded cast list of Disney+’s new show Percy Jackson and The Olympians continues to grow as Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda is cast to play the god Hermes.
The show, based on Rick Riordan’s bestselling book series of the same name, stars Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson, a demigod who discovers that he is the son of the Greek god Poseidon. The show’s first season is based on the first book in the series, The Lightning Thief, in which Percy begins training at Camp Half-Blood (a special training camp for demigods) and must embark on a quest to save his mother and return Zeus’ stolen lightning bolt. Miranda is slotted to play Hermes, the messenger god. Although Hermes initially does not play a large role in the story, his son Luke Castellan, played by Charlie Bushnell, is integral to the plot, as is their relationship as father and son.
Miranda, who has previously created and acted in projects such as Hamilton and In the Heights, is an Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award winner, as well as a fan of the Percy Jackson book series. Author Rick Riordan shared more information on his website, saying that when reading Hermes’ lines he “could not get Lin-Manuel Miranda’s voice out of [his] head,” and that Miranda was “excited to join the Percy Jackson family,” as his son is also a big fan of the series. While Riordan has nothing but good things to say about Miranda’s addition to the show, fans online have had mixed reactions, with one fan saying the announcement ruined her whole day; and others saying that Disney should cast Logan Lerman, who played Percy Jackson in the 2010 movie adaptation, as Poseidon to make up for the announcement.
The show’s pilot was written by Riordan and Jon Steinberg, directed by James Bobin, and produced by Steinberg and Dan Shotz. Riordan also serves as an executive producer. Riordan’s heavy involvement with the show comes as a relief to many fans after the two movie adaptations, which were both heavily criticized for not adhering to the book material. Riordan himself released a statement calling the movies “[his] life’s work going through a meat grinder,” and revealing that he hadn’t even seen them after being so disappointed in the scripts. He later made a post to his website detailing the very little involvement he had in the films and attaching a series of emails he had sent to the producers of notes he had that were ultimately ignored.
The teaser trailer released by Disney this September has garnered a lot of excitement from the series’ massive fanbase, especially when paired with the steady stream of updates and cast announcements provided by Riordan and his wife. Along with Miranda, Scobell and Bushnell comes a myriad of talented cast members. These include Jason Mantzoukas as Dionysus, Camp Half-Blood’s director and god of wine; Adam Copeland as Ares, the god of war; Glynn Turman as Chiron, Percy’s mentor and trainer. Leah Jeffries was cast as Annabeth Chase and Aryan Simhadri as Grover Underwood, Percy’s best friends and quest partners; Megan Mullally as Mrs. Dodds, Percy’s math teacher; and Dior Goodjohn as Clarisse LaRue, the daughter of Ares.
The show is currently in production and is predicted to be released in 2024.
Want to see more HCFSU? Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube and Pinterest!