By Andy Chen, Emma Cheng, and Kelly Gildea, Staff Writers
Rick Riordan has announced that his popular Percy Jackson series would be converted into a Disney+ TV series. Although the series is projected to release in 2022, many fans are already anticipating a wonderful depiction of the books they love so much. Though there might not be many details about the series available to the public yet, many students are already speculating and hoping that the series does the books justice.
Riordan’s well-known series consists of five books and many spin-offs and crossovers, including Heroes of Olympus, The Trials of Apollo, Magnus Chase, and the Kane Chronicles. After Disney+ was released as a streaming platform, fans urged Riordan to communicate with Disney and get a proper adaptation of his work onto TV screens across the country. The result was Disney+’s upcoming show, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, a journey of mythology, action, and friendship. Although there has been two past movie adaptations, the plots were highly altered leaving fans heavily dissatisfied. Riordan agreed, tweeting, “Well, to you guys, it’s a couple hours entertainment. To me, it’s my life’s work going through a meat grinder when I pleaded with them not to do it. So yeah. But it’s fine. All fine. We’re gonna fix it soon.”
Rick Riordan’s promise to his fans for an accurate portrayal started with him and his wife Becky Riodan. Together, the couple gathered fan favorite moments of the book series by utilizing their heavy social media presence across multiple platforms. Riordan himself will be writing the script of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, ensuring the same humor seen throughout the books is conveyed accurately to Disney+ viewers. The show’s announcement was very successful as fans brought the news onto Twitter, making #disneyadaptpercyjackson the #1 trend for several days.
As for the fans at Townsend Harris, many have high expectations for the TV series. For instance, freshman Sadeea Morshed stated, “The movie centers the plot around one chapter of the book and butchers all of the characters; it was a total letdown. But Rick is actually one of the executives in writing and producing, so you know he won’t let us down this time.”
While many Townsend Harris fans anticipate a well written and well produced show, some prefer reading the series rather than watching it. Senior Hali Huang said, “Honestly, I don’t care that much [about the upcoming TV series] because I’m much more of a book reader, and I rarely watch television or movies at all. Although I like Percy Jackson a lot, to me the movies and TV shows are another realm.”
Others, like freshman Simran Deonaire, had enjoyed the movie adaptations. “I love the Percy Jackson movies, and I’ve watched all of them,” Simran said. “Unfortunately, I haven’t read the books yet, but I want to! I really liked the movies and some people argue that they were nothing like the books but since I didn’t read the books, I actually enjoyed them.”
The issue of Disney+ not being accessible for all was also a concern. “I don’t own any streaming services like Netflix or Disney+,” said Hali. “Even despite the large number of people who have taken to love Riordan’s series, many might not be able to access this show.” When asked if having the show on YouTube would make it more accessible, Hali responded,“I don’t really watch anything else but YouTube, so I might watch if it’s on YouTube.”
Regardless, Riordan’s fans are clearly excited about the prospect of the upcoming adaptation and are hopeful it will not disappoint.
