Top 10 Ways the Percy Jackson Series PROPERLY Adapts the Books
#10: Character Ages
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In the books and the show, the main characters are all meant to be about twelve years old. This is with the exception of Grover, who in the books is twenty-eight, making him fourteen, since Satyrs age twice as slowly as humans; in the show, he’s now twenty-four, so he matches Percy and Annabeth. The ages being way off was one of the main issues people took with the movies. While Logan Lerman was seventeen during filming, Brandan T. Jackson and Alexandra Daddario were both in their mid-twenties. Though the show’s cast is slightly older, with Walker Scobell being fourteen during filming, they’re far more book-accurate.
#9: Personalities
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Similar to the ages of the characters, their personalities are also better realized in the show. Part of this comes from the show having way more screen time for everybody, while the movie condensed a LOT of events into a two-hour runtime. While Lerhman’s version of Percy definitely shone, Annabeth and Grover were absolutely done dirty - with Annabeth in particular getting very little character development. In the show, we see them getting along and seeming like real friends, and Grover becomes the heart of the story - as he should be! Aryan Simhadri does a stand-out performance as everybody’s favorite Satyr, with the main trio all being integral to the story.
#8: Orange Shirts
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This one seems minor, but to long-time “Percy Jackson” fans, the fact that the movie didn’t have the iconic, orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirts was blasphemy. That’s why the orange tees were front-and-center in the marketing for the Disney+ show, as a symbol of just how seriously Disney was taking its mandate to adapt this sprawling book series. Of course, this largely means that Disney can make and then sell the shirts as merchandise, but everybody who grew up with these books dreamed of the day they’d be claimed by a god and taken to Camp Half-Blood. And part of that fantasy is those goofy, orange shirts - which, apparently, took 20 attempts from the costume department to get the color just right.
#7: Technology
The first book in Rick Riordan’s entire series, “Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief”, was written back in 2005, only a little before kids of all ages had all manner of smartphones and gadgets at their disposal. The movie appeared five years later and included a slew of bizarre references to modern tech. We have Percy rocking those classic, wired Apple headphones; him using the mirror on the back of his iPod Touch to see Medusa; and Luke having modern video games set up in his cabin. The TV show is a lot more vague with its setting, but we don’t see any of the trappings of modern life on display - which means it’ll age better, not worse.
#6: Driving
In the movie, the main characters drive throughout most of their cross-country journey, only appearing on a bus in one, small scene. Since they’re all sixteen or seventeen, it makes sense that they’d all be able to drive. But, in the book and the show, they’re way too young, which leads to a lot of creative problem-solving when they take trains, buses, and even hitchhike in the back of a Kindness International truck. When they’re given the chance to borrow Hermes’ cab, they struggle to get it going. This all adds to the fun of seeing these characters travel all the way across the US, from upstate New York to LA.
#5: No Inappropriate Jokes
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Unfortunately, the characters being older in the movie didn’t ONLY lead to the plot convenience of them being able to drive a truck across the country. It also led to a barrage of NSFW jokes, largely centered on Grover. He pursues the daughters of Aphrodite, makes risque jokes about Medusa - even after her head has been severed - gets waylaid by women at the Lotus Casino, and flirts with Persephone. This was all deeply bizarre, and completely against the spirit of the books and their cast of pre-teens. All of this is, thankfully, completely gone in the Disney version, and it’s all the better for it.
#4: Percy Getting Claimed
In all three versions of the story, we see Percy using his powers right from the beginning - though, he doesn’t know that’s what he’s doing. The movie opens with Lerman holding his breath for ten minutes, while the book and the show have Percy accidentally attacking Nancy and then Clarisse with water. But what makes this different is that, in the movie, they realize that Percy is a son of Poseidon right away, while in the book and show, they don’t work it out until Percy is claimed at the end of Capture the Flag. This is a landmark moment because it’s proof that Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades have broken their vow not to father more children.
#3: Hephaestus
The nature of adapting any book for the screen means that certain characters are going to be left out, and that’s the beauty of seeing “Percy Jackson” now turned into a TV show. Dionysus, a camp counselor and the God of Wine, was completely absent in the movie, but he returns in the series. Another notable absence from the movie who appears in the show is Hephaestus, who sets a trap designed to catch Ares. Annabeth is able to appeal to Hephaestus’s better nature, as he’s one of the few gods who has one, to free Percy. And, of course, Timothy Odmundson steals the scene. In real life, Odmundson’s daughters are fans of the series, which is why he took the role.
#2: The Pearls
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Poseidon’s Pearls are very important to the plot, because they’re the mechanism by which the characters can escape from the Underworld. But the movie changed all of this. Instead of being Poseidon’s Pearls, they’re Persephone’s Pearls - even though Persephone, Goddess of Spring, has nothing to do with pearls. The characters also spend most of the movie tracking down these pearls, as opposed to doing what they’re meant to be doing and finding the Master Bolt. The show restores the Pearls’ origin, as Percy is given them by Nereid, a sea nymph. But, interestingly, the show gives him four pearls, instead of the original three, in a surprising twist.
#1: It’s Not Rushed
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The big problem with the movie adaptation is that they have a lot of plot to get through and not a lot of time to do it. “Percy Jackson” is not a series that lends itself to the big screen because it’s got so many iconic scenes and a lot of world-building to establish. Finally, though, it’s done justice by the show, which has perfect pacing and doesn’t rush through any of the big story beats we want to see. There’s time to see the characters develop and to introduce lore elements that, in the books, don’t appear until later - Thalia Grace having been turned into a tree, for example. We can’t wait to see the other books get the same treatment! Let us know what your favorite moment in “The Lightning Thief” is in the comments!
