Many streaming platforms are already looking for the next Stranger Things, and Disney+ may have found theirs in Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Stranger Things was a cultural phenomenon, but the last season was polarizing, and Percy Jackson season 3 could make or break the Disney+ series if it does not remain faithful to Rick Riordan’s original books.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2 made a few book changes, but it generally stays extremely close to the source material, which follows Percy as he discovers he is a modern-day demigod. Disney has confirmed that Percy Jackson season 3 will premiere sooner than expected, and a main actor has pointed out a shift in tone that might echo Stranger Things.
Percy Jackson And The Olympians Is Disney+’s Stranger Things
Clarisse stands in front of trees in Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2
Percy Jackson is Disney+’s best young-adult fantasy series, and the show began with several parallels to Stranger Things, as the main character’s world opens up to the supernatural, while his core friendship group fights the threats together. Now, Walker Scobell (Percy) says that Percy Jackson season 3 will shift its tone, telling Deadline, “it’s a lot more mature than Season 1 and 2.”
This feels similar to the way in which Stranger Things grew progressively darker with every season. It remains to be seen whether Percy Jackson will become quite as disturbing, but there is plenty of opportunity for gore and scares. The series will adapt The Titan’s Curse, which, like Stranger Things, involves a race against time and several new monsters.
Percy Jackson And The Olympians Has A Source Material To Follow
Aryan Simhadri as Grover, Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth Chase, and Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson stand together in the woods.Everett
While some critics feel that Percy Jackson‘s production and writing are inferior to Stranger Things, the show has one major advantage over its more well-known and well-funded equivalent. Stranger Things was an original and therefore unpredictable production, and no ending was going to satisfy everyone. However, Percy Jackson has a seven-book series to follow, so fans know what to expect.
While the Stranger Things writers had to create the story and characters, the Percy Jackson writers must ensure they bring the original series to life in a way that pleases existing fans while entertaining new ones. The immensely popular source material means that Percy Jackson could end up lasting for seven seasons without being stretched too far, as many fantasy shows tend to do.
Will Percy Jackson And The Olympians Reach The Same Heights As Stranger Things?
The Sirens character poster from Percy Jackson season 2
Percy Jackson might not yet have become the cultural phenomenon that Stranger Things is, but it is outranking the show on Rotten Tomatoes with a 95% positive critics’ score compared to Stranger Things‘ 90%. The show appears to be gaining traction, and it is even attracting attention from A-list actors, with a Star Wars icon joining the Percy Jackson cast for season 3.
That said, Disney+ is a very different streaming platform from Netflix, and the two do not always have the same goals. While it is in Netflix’s best interest to always find a new hit, the biggest selling point for Disney+ is having several major IPs in the same place, and this includes Percy Jackson, even if it never equals the impact of Stranger Things.
Source: Deadline
Release Date
December 19, 2023
Network
Disney+
Showrunner
Jonathan E. Steinberg, Dan Shotz
Directors
James Bobin
Writers
Joe Tracz, Andrew Miller
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Walker Scobell
Percy Jackson
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Leah Sava Jeffries
Annabeth Chase
