Fans of Greek mythology and young adult fiction rejoice! Earlier this year, Rick Riordan, author of the widely successful Percy Jackson and the Olympians novels, announced that Disney is going to produce another live-action adaptation of his books in the form of a TV series on Disney Plus. This news was met with elation from fans, as readers of the Percy Jackson series are still reeling from the atrocious film adaptations that 20th Century Fox produced in 2010 and 2013. Since Disney acquired 20th Century Fox back in March of 2019, they now have free license to use any of the properties that Fox owned in the past. This makes a Percy Jackson TV series into a perfect opportunity for the house of mouse. Not only would it beef up the amount of original content on their streaming platform, but it would also drive in new subscriptions from those that read the books in the past and have avoided signing up for Disney Plus up to this point. This will only work however if Disney makes the Percy Jackson series right, and there are a number of ways to accomplish that. There are also some very important things to avoid with this series so that it doesn’t become just another failure like the movie adaptation. We’re gonna discuss these do’s and don’ts below, and hopefully Disney will make the Percy Jackson series into everything the fans could ever ask for.
Do: Stay loyal to the source material
One of the biggest faults of the two Percy Jackson movies was how it more or less disregarded the books completely. Among the many egregious differences between the story of the books and the movies, some include: Percy being 17 in the movies when he’s only 12 in the books, pivotal characters like Ares being almost completely absent from the first movie, and the entire plotline of Kronos’ resurrection being condensed into one film when it took until the last books in the series. With these examples, it’s clear that the bar is set pretty low for Disney’s adaptation. All they need to do is stick to Rick Riordan’s writing and they can’t go wrong.
Don’t: Use too much CGI
Something that the Percy Jackson TV series should stay away from is an overabundance of CGI. This is not to say that using CGI effects at all is a bad thing, they have proved to be a revolutionary tool in filmmaking for quite some time now. At the same time however, we can all think of a movie or TV show that used such distracting computer effects that it took away from the overall feeling of what we are trying to watch, and the Percy Jackson series will have to avoid that to keep the attention of fans. Now there is the issue that with a show centered around Greek mythology, it would be pretty difficult and expensive to make practical creatures such as the Minotaur, but Disney already has some experience using more practical effects for its original series. The Mandalorian has been a shining example of what happens when a studio places a focus on practical effects when possible and uses computer effects as sparingly as they can. One particular innovation that Disney used for The Mandalorian that the Percy Jackson series should take advantage of is the new “Stagecraft” technology. This new filmmaking tool is essentially a big wall of LED lights that acts as a projector of sorts for any kind of environment that a director may want to use. It eliminates the need for costly sets, and it makes the world around the characters seem more natural than that of a green screen. If the Percy Jackson series were to use this technology it would make for some incredibly breathtaking environments, especially for scenes that take place in the Underworld or Olympus.
Do: Keep the show accessible
If the Percy Jackson series is going to be an all-around success, it’s going to have to perform a bit of a tightrope walk with its overall tone. This show is going to be in a bit of a weird place as far as its audience is concerned, because although the books are meant for an audience of roughly middle school and high school age, the vast majority of the fanbase is somewhere in their early twenties now. It sort of has a Harry Potter effect to it all; the Percy Jackson books were first published about fifteen years ago, so the people that grew up with the series when they were in grade school are now in college or preparing to graduate from college. This presents an interesting challenge for Disney for how they want the show to proceed. They could go with a more child friendly, almost Disney Channel, feel to the show, but this would likely alienate the older Percy Jackson fanbase. On the flipside, if they were to make the show too mature it would run the risk of being inaccessible to a younger audience that may just be getting into the books. In order to succeed, the Percy Jackson series is going to have to strike a balance between these two things much like the Marvel movies do. The one thing that makes the Marvel movies so popular is how they are entertaining and engaging for older, die-hard fans and younger newcomers alike. And with Disney’s experience in finding this balance with the Marvel movies, there’s no reason the Percy Jackson series can’t do the same.
Don’t: Rush through the story
For the Percy Jackson series to be truly successful, it’s going to have to take its time. This time around the producers of this series aren’t limited to the roughly two hour time frame of most movies, so they can take as many episodes and seasons as they need to tell this story, and they should use that to their advantage. Now as far as Disney Plus is concerned, Disney hasn’t exactly produced any original series that are longer than about ten episodes a season. This is where Disney would have to take a bit of a risk, because just ten episodes would not be nearly enough time to tell the story of the Percy Jackson books. In order to allow each character to get as much development as possible and to make sure that plotlines aren’t rushed, Disney should adopt a structure similar to that of the many CW series, like Arrow and Supernatural. These series have episodes that are about forty-five minutes long, and each season consists of between fifteen and twenty episodes. This would work perfectly for the Percy Jackson series because not only would the forty-five minute structure ensure that each of the main characters gets the appropriate amount of screen time, but each of the books in the first Percy Jackson series are about twenty chapters long. This would allow each episode to be a chapter, and each season to be one whole book. Using a structure like this would help to prevent the Percy Jackson show from becoming just like the Percy Jackson movies because they wouldn’t have to do a full sprint through the story. Disney would be able to do what anyone else does when reading a book and take the series one chapter at a time.
With the Disney Percy Jackson series on the way, and a Kane Chronicles movie series apparently in the works at Netflix, it’s never been a more exciting time to be a fan of Rick Riordan’s writing. Here’s hoping that both companies are able to stick the landing and deliver an experience that fans have been waiting for. What are you most excited to see in the Percy Jackson TV show? Let us know in the comments below and for more news on pop culture and everything entertainment, check back here at its-bananas.com.
