The upcoming Disney+ adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians must fix one major element from the film adaptations. Fixing this aspect of the films would not only make the TV series more like the books they are adapting but would better benefit the characters of the show. However, with Rick Riordan involved in the series – the author of the books – it is likely that the Disney+ show will fix these issues.
The film series began in 2010 with Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief and starred Logan Lerman in the titular role, with Walker Scobell taking over for the Disney+ series. While the first film was enjoyable enough, the biggest problem with both it and its sequel was the lack of fidelity to the books. This was largely through a complete mischaracterization of plenty of the aspects of the Percy Jackson books from its central trio, to other godly children, and Camp Half-Blood itself, which the Disney+ adaptation sorely needs to fix.
Percy Jackson Needs To Better Adapt The Book’s Central Trio
The central trio of Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and Grover Underwood were played by Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, and Brandon T. Jackson respectively in the two 20th Century Fox Percy Jackson films. While each of the actors performed the characters they were presented with very well, it was in the script that the film misunderstood the characters. Beginning with the main character, Percy, the book introduces him as a very short-tempered, angry, troubled boy due to his dyslexia and ADHD. Oftentimes Percy is shown in fights with bullies, being expelled from schools, and largely getting into trouble – things the films ignored, creating a big issue for Fox’s Percy Jackson movies.
Despite these tendencies, Percy was often shown to be very kind-hearted and loyal which made him an engrossing character in the books. With the films ignoring these aspects, his character lacked an engaging arc. Secondly, arguably the most drastic change from book to film was that of Grover. In the books, Grover is a shy, timid, character with many fears. His character undergoes a change throughout the book series, turning into a more heroic character. However, Jackson’s version of Grover was a charismatic, outgoing, ladies-man character, which was a massive mischaracterization.
While Annabeth’s changes were not as drastic, many book elements were left out of the films. One of these elements was one of the more humanizing aspects of Annabeth’s character. Annabeth was described as a very headstrong, stubborn, and even judgmental person upon Percy’s first meeting with her. However, the Percy Jackson movie left out one of the most humanizing scenes for Annabeth, in which she freezes with fear of mechanical spiders, revealing an important plot point that all children of Athena fear the arachnids. This is the first scene in which she and Percy truly bond and begins Annabeth’s process of opening up to her friends.
Besides this, the film also left out iconic aspects of Annabeth’s weaponry. One thing was her New York Yankees cap that allows her to turn invisible, which was notably absent from the films. Another was her bronze knife, which holds great sentimental value to Annabeth and ends up being vital to the series’ overarching story. All of these things, for all three characters, are ways Disney+ could better adapt its main trio, which will likely happen thanks to Rick Riordan’s involvement in the Percy Jackson show.
Disney+’s Percy Jackson Needs More Of A Focus On Other Godly Children
Another element that Disney+’s Percy Jackson needs to change from the movies is the lack of focus on the other children of Camp Half-Blood. Outside of Percy, Annabeth, and Grover, the films are devoid of development for any other campers in Camp Half-Blood other than Luke Castellan. While Luke is arguably the most important character in the series outside the central trio, there are plenty of other characters that have vital roles to play in the future.
One of them is Clarisse La Rue, a daughter of Ares from Camp Half-Blood who clashes with Percy. While Clarisse was introduced in the second film of Fox’s series, she was again mischaracterized like the rest of the franchise’s characters. One thing that the Disney+ Percy Jackson series could do is introduce characters vital in the latter books of the series, such as the Hermes twins Connor and Travis, Aphrodite’s daughter Silena Beauregard, Charles Beckendorf – son of Hephaestus – and Will Solace, son of Apollo, to name but a few.
While there are certainly more characters similar to those mentioned that could be established early, one of the more vital is Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus. Thalia ends up being vital to the story of the book series, and her intriguing story is set up in the first book. While the second film in Fox’s series did include this story, it was slightly changed from the books and was not foreshadowed in the first at all. This is another way Disney+ can fix the Percy Jackson movies’ mistakes in their characterization, by better focusing on the other demigods of Camp Half-Blood, something that TV’s longer-form storytelling could allow.
The Percy Jackson Show Needs To Make Camp Half-Blood More Prominent
Finally, one of the last aspects that Disney needs to improve in terms of characterization is the show’s setting. Similarly to Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series, Camp Half-Blood felt like its own character. There were plenty of different lore-filled aspects of the camp, from characters to locations and buildings that were not showcased in the original Percy Jackson films. From the creatures of the camp’s various locations, such as the woods, the lake, and even the camps attendants, to the magical elements like the central hearth, the amphitheater, and the dining pavilion, Camp Half-Blood was barely developed in the Fox movie series.
All of these things went far enough to make Camp Half-Blood feel lived in and like its own character of the books, akin to Harry Potter’s Hogwarts and its houses. However, no aspect did this more than the cabins of Camp Half-Blood, with each one receiving a detailed description of how they exemplified their godly counterpart. This was another element sorely lacking from the films that can be expanded upon in the show, and truly prove that Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney+ can fix the glaring issues regarding characterization that plagued the original film adaptations.
