Disney+’s new Percy Jackson and the Olympians reboot is already fixing a major issue with the story by emphasizing Percy’s temper. The previous Percy Jackson movie adaptation was met with poor reception due to its misinterpretation of many of the characters and unnecessary plot changes, including the way Percy reacts to his constant challenges. While the movies framed him as a teenager simply frustrated with his situation, the book’s version of Percy was a bit rougher around the edges. Now, with author Rick Riordan as an executive producer, fans are hopeful that the upcoming adaption will be a more faithful retelling of Percy’s story.
In a recent interview, Walker Scobell, who will portray Percy Jackson, revealed that “his” version of Percy Jackson will be much more hot-tempered than the 2011 movie made him out to be. Riordan’s wife and fellow executive producer, Becky Riordan, supported Scobell’s interview on Twitter, implying that the book always intended for Percy’s emotions to be a driving part of his story. Read what Scobell had to say here:
In the other iterations of it, he was kind of calm the whole time. But in this one, mine, he really has, I guess… how do I put it… Poseidon’s fury, I guess? He gets pretty angry, and I like that a lot.
In the books, Percy is a self-proclaimed troubled kid who frequently gets into fights, is disliked by most (human) teachers, and ends almost every school year with an expulsion. While the Percy Jackson movie does bring attention to his frustration with the situations he finds himself in, most of his anger is aimed at his abusive stepfather, and even that veers more to annoyance and sarcasm. However, the books feature many more instances where Percy lets his emotions get the better of him, snapping at his friends or taking a fight too far.
Percy’s Anger Makes Him A Better Hero
After his son was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, Riordan intentionally wrote Percy’s story to create a hero with relatable traits that regular children could see in themselves. Percy’s anger is no different, and having him struggle with traditionally “negative” character traits such as learning difficulties and a hot temper makes him all the more realistic. Throughout his story, Percy Jackson is confronted with frustrating situations that ignite his anger and cause him to act impulsively. When he feels overwhelmed, that emotion tends to boil over in the form of anger, and that complexity of emotional baggage is what makes him a dynamic and relatable character.
Beyond making him relatable, Percy’s temper is also an inherited trait from his Olympian father. Poseidon was known to the ancient Greeks as “the Earthshaker,” and his wrath was thought to cause earthquakes. Percy’s tendency to lash out throughout the series is as much a reminder of his powerful lineage as his appearance and abilities, and it serves to emphasize the books’ theme of complex family dynamics. As Percy grows up, he has to learn how to focus his anger and use it to his benefit, protecting his friends rather than weaponizing it the way Poseidon does.
The books constantly challenge the young demigods to be better than their godly parents, like Percy Jackson‘s Hades and Zeus, and Disney+ is off to a great start by adding Poseidon’s fury to its protagonist. Though a short fuse might seem like the wrong trait for a hero, Percy puts this gift from his father to good use throughout his story. With a cast that clearly understands the characters and the series’ author as an executive producer, things are looking good for the new Percy Jackson and the Olympians reboot, and it will be an enjoyable ride to see how the rest of the titular character comes together as the show progresses.
