If you were a fan of the first season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, there’s some good news. The show has been renewed and will return for a second season on Disney Plus. Writing for the season began before the renewal, so it shouldn’t be too long until Walker Scobell is back on set as the titular half-blood. The next season will be covering the second book in Rick Riordan’s novel series, and that’s a major problem for anyone who wants a third one. There are a few problems with Percy Jackson’s season 2 renewal, and the source material is the biggest issue.
Why Percy Jackson’s Season 2 Might Be a Problem
Out of the five books that make up the Percy Jackson & the Olympians books, the second entry – The Sea of Monsters – is easily the worst. It’s not a complete nosedive in terms of quality, but it is more of a slog to get through compared to the first book. Of course, the second book leads to the third, fourth, and fifth books, which are all great. A couple of them are even better than the first one. But The Sea of Monsters has a weird subplot, a repetitive narrative, and a hamfisted bigoted character development, which might not play well over the course of the season.
To faithfully adapt The Sea of Monsters, season two would also presumably rely on more visual effects than the first season did. The first season used the Volume, the video wall soundstage that was created for The Mandalorian. While some of the monsters looked great, some environments like the Underworld, looked terrible. As most of The Sea of Monsters takes place in the open ocean, we could be looking at a few episodes with an obviously digital background. In addition to the background, one of the main characters will be a Cyclops. Sustaining the one-eyed look might prove more difficult than Grover’s legs.
How Could The Sea of Monsters Work?
So far, Percy Jackson and the Olympians has stayed true to the essence of the source material. But, the Disney Plus series did change a few storylines, and that was mostly for the better. Hopefully, the writers tone down some of the plot elements that might not fit in with the trajectory of their show anymore. There are also sections of the book where Percy and his friends aren’t in the water, so the season could pivot and have most of the action take place on land and save most of the ship sections for the time skips between episodes.
However, it’s worth taking into account that the co-creator and showrunner of the show also co-created Black Sails (which also starred Toby Stephens who plays Poseidon). Hopefully, Jonathan E. Steinberg pulls from his Black Sails roots – swimming in familiar territory – and knocks out a great season of Percy Jackson on the water. Who knows, they might even use practical effects for the Cyclops.
The interesting thing about this situation is that it’s not like the novels decline in quality from here on out. Fans of the books are surely hoping that they could see the events from books three to five played out in future seasons. We just have to brace ourselves for a lukewarm season two and hope that the show overcomes the issues from the book. We’re all praying to the gods that the show will make it to that fifth season. You can watch Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney Plus now.
