New York Comic Con’s Empire Stage was a sea of orange Sunday afternoon, as fans streamed in to catch a first glimpse of Disney+’s much-anticipated Percy Jackson And The Olympians series. The new footage—which one fan described as “nervous breakdown spectacular” in a Q&A section after the screening—was presented by Co-Creator Jon Steinberg, Executive Producer Dan Shotz, Director James Bobin, and a handful of other members of the costume, production, and VFX teams. At least, that was who made up the official panel. Two very special surprise guests—original series author Rick Riordan and his wife Becky—were also waiting in the wings to thank the raucous crowd for their nearly two decades of support.
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But first, the production team took some time to talk about the process of creating Camp Half-Blood, working with the “incredible” preteen cast, and the special place Rick Riordan’s original series holds in all of their hearts.
In a sweet moment, both Dan Shotz and James Bobin shared that not only were their kids die-hard Percy Jackson fans long before they signed on for the show (the books taught Shotz’ daughter how to read and inspired Bobin’s kids to study Greek in school), but this was also the case for many of the adult actors, including Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jason Mantzoukas. “It’s really a family business,” Steinberg shared.
The panel also could not stop gushing about their three 12-year-old stars, Walker Scobell, Leah Jeffries, and Aryan Simhadri. “We had a commitment from everyone that if it’s right, we’re gonna know it the moment it walks through the door,” Steinberg said. “We got so lucky because we found it three times. [The actors] are all exactly what we hoped they’d be, and they’re also great people, which isn’t always the case.”
“They changed the entire dynamic for the crew and everyone else because they brought this incredible talent to set every day,” Shotz added. “We all miss them a lot.”
This, as well as the team’s genuine care for all the little details of the material, was more than apparent in footage shared from the show’s intro, minotaur car chase, and Capture The Flag game. Scobell’s Percy is as lovable and aloof as fans would have hoped, and the chemistry between the young actors is genuine and palpable. We won’t post any spoilers here, but it was also clear from one chuckle-inducing transition that this Percy definitely exists in 2023 rather than the original book’s 2005.
To that end, Steinberg knew he had a difficult line to tread. “I knew I had two responsibilities,” he shared. “I had to try to make sure that if you love these books, you’re going to get what you came for and get to see the things you’ve been spending so much time only imagining come to life.”
“But if that’s all you get we didn’t do our jobs, he continued. “So we had to figure out how to surprise you in a way that feels so organic to the story, it could have been there the whole time.” At least from what we saw, he’s accomplished both of these things and more.
Percy Jackson And The Olympians premiere December 20 on Disney+.