Percy Jackson and the Olympians has been releasing weekly on Disney+, with the final episode of Season 1 hitting the streaming service on January 30.
The show tells the story of Percy Jackson, a young demigod in the modern world, and his quest to retrieve Zeus' master bolt.
The first season, comprised of eight episodes, is based on The Lightning Thief novel by Rick Riordan, the first of five in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians book series.
Will Percy Jackson Get a Season 2?
Before Percy Jackson even premiered on Disney+, Rick Riordan revealed that preliminary writing work had begun on the new season, despite not having the official go-ahead.
This aligns with a Writers Guild of America West listing from summer 2023, which included Season 1 showrunner and executive producer Jon Steinberg returning to those roles for a potential Season 2.
Riordan said in a recent Goodreads Q&A that in this work for a hypothetical Season 2, the creative team's "job will be to build on a solid foundation." He said that he believes the show is "off to an excellent start," but that there will be "lots of conversations about what we can improve" for a second season:
"Our job will be to build on a solid foundation. I think we're off to an excellent start, but there are always things we can do better. If we get the second season underway, we will have lots of conversations about what we can improve."
Riordan explained that his goals for a theoretical Season 2 include finding "ways to accentuate Percy's voice and humor" and balancing "keeping the pacing tight" with adding "world-building basics" that there was not the space for in the show's first season:
"Personally, I want to continue looking for ways to accentuate Percy's voice and humor, and to layer in some of the world-building basics we didn't have time to cover in season one, while keeping the pacing tight."
This is all in a continued attempt to "fine-tune the story in season two and do even better:"
"Again, season one came out really well imo, given all the challenges involved in bringing this huge show to life, but hopefully that means we can now fine-tune the story in season two and do even better."
In a perfect world for both book and show fans, the series would be renewed for another four seasons, with one adapting each book of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series of novels.
Season 1 adapted The Lightning Thief, so future seasons would see adaptions of The Sea of Monsters, The Titan's Curse, Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian (in that order).
As of January 20, Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney+ has not been officially renewed for a Season 2.
What Would Percy Jackson Season 2 Be About?
Warning: The rest of this article contains spoilers for The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan.
Under the assumption that Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 would be an adaptation of The Sea of Monsters, fans know to expect several iconic moments and sequences.
The general plot of The Sea of Monsters concerns Thalia's Tree — as learned in Season 1, Zeus turned his forbidden daughter Thalia into a tree when she tried to protect Annabeth Chase, Luke Castellan and Grover Underwood — being poisoned.
The campers do not know it yet, but this is another step in Luke and Kronos' multi-layered plan to destroy Olympus.
First, though, Grover puts on a wedding dress as a disguise, and Percy Jackson plays dodgeball with cannibals (both revealed in the titles of chapters 1 and 2, respectively).
During his quest to find Pan, Grover is held hostage by a giant cyclops named Polyphemus. To ensure he stays alive, Grover convinces the monster that he is another cyclops — a woman cyclops Polyphemus would be set to marry.
Grover establishes an empathy link with Percy, which essentially allows the best friends to occasionally feel what the other feels, see what the other sees, or show up in the other's dreams. Percy, knowing his best friend is in danger, is determined to save him.
Meanwhile, Annabeth proposes that the best way to save Thalia's Tree from its suddenly rapid decay is to find the Golden Fleece which "could cure Thalia's tree:"
"'The Fleece brought prosperity to the land. Animals stopped getting sick. Plants grew better. Farmers had bumper crops. Plagues never visited. That's why Jason wanted the Fleece. It can revitalize any land where it's placed. It cures sickness, strengthens nature, cleans up pollution—'
'It could cure Thalia's tree.'
Annabeth nodded. 'And it would totally strengthen the borders of Camp Half-Blood.'"
Percy and Annabeth propose they go on a quest to find the Fleece and rescue Grover, both located on an island in the perilous Sea of Monsters (or, the Bermuda Triangle to mortals). But, Clarisse La Rue was sent instead.
After a visit from Hermes, though, Percy sneaks out of camp and goes on the quest anyway, accompanied by Annabeth and his half-brother Tyson, a kind, young cyclops.
On their journey, Percy, Annabeth, Tyson, and eventually Clarisse and Grover face many challenges, obstacles, and enemies. Notable fan-favorite sequences include Circe's Island (wherein Percy is turned into a Guinea Pig), a battle with a Hydra outside of a Monster Donut shop, and an encounter with deadly Sirens.
Percy Jackson Season 2 - Potential Returning Cast
As of now, most fans assume that if a Season 2 does happen, the members of the Season 1 cast who return in the story would reprise their roles.
This is more likely than not, especially given that some have expressed excitement about adapting scenes and sequences from other Percy Jackson and the Olympians novels down the line.
Under this assumption, the only major re-cast would be Lance Reddick's Zeus, since the actor passed away in 2023. However, Zeus actually does very little in The Sea of Monsters, so if a replacement has not been chosen by Season 2, nothing would really be impacted.
Actors returning to their lead roles from Season 1 would be Walker Scobell (Percy Jackson), Leah Sava Jeffries (Annabeth Chase), and Aryan Simhadri (Grover Underwood).
Reprising their roles with similar amounts of screen time to what they had in Season 1 would be Charlie Bushnell (Luke Castellan), Andrew Alvarez (Chris Rodriguez), Glynn Turman (Chiron), Virginia Kull (Sally Jackson), Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hermes), and Jason Mantzoukas (Dionysus).
Coming into Season 2 with a larger role than in Season 1 would be Dior Goodjohn (Clarisse La Rue), whose character has a more prominent role in The Sea of Monsters than in The Lightning Thief.
New Characters for Percy Jackson Season 2
In addition to characters from Season 1 who would return in Season 2, several new characters would need to be cast.
More-prominent new additions would be actors for Polyphemus, Tantalus, and, most importantly, Tyson. Tyson is the only of these three recurring Season 2 characters who appears in future Percy Jackson and the Olympians books beyond The Sea of Monsters.
Other new characters who would re-appear in future seasons, if introduced in Season 2, are Charlie Beckendorf, Connor and Travis Stoll, the Party Ponies, and Thalia.
Depending, too, on how the season would choose to adapt Annabeth's re-telling of when she, Luke, and Thalia fought a cyclops before coming to camp, there could be someone cast as Young Annabeth, akin to Azriel Dalman's Young Percy in Season 1.
Finally, single-appearance characters would include Circe, the Gray Sisters, and Joe Bob and the other Laistrygonian Giants.
New Additions to Percy Jackson Season 2
If Season 1 is any indication, Season 2 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians will likely include several additions and changes to the story, complementing or expanding on the source material.
Season 1 has been working the balance between book-accuracy and keeping longtime fans on their toes, which has culminated in a show that is authentic to the plot and world of Percy Jackson, without being an exact replica of the books.
In Season 2, fans could see many new additions or changes. For instance, the characters listed earlier are simply who appeared in the books. Season 1 brought in Hepheastus and Hermes, though neither appeared in The Lightning Thief.
This means the door is open for characters from Season 1, like the gods introduced who do not return in the second book, to still be in Season 2. Plus, gods who haven't yet been introduced, and in the books are not seen until later installments, such as Aphrodite or Apollo, could appear.
Fans have also yet to meet Athena, and as Annabeth's mother, her first physical appearance could be significant — especially given the role she has already played in the story behind-the-scenes.
Perhaps more of Tyson's or Clarisse's backstories could be explored, like the show has done with Grover in Season 1.
Given how little of both Tyson's and Clarisse's families and backgrounds are known in the books (in fact, neither has a named mother in the books), and how prominent those characters are in The Sea of Monsters, it would make sense to learn more about them.
Finally, Kronos is shown in the second novel, not yet in a physical body, but as a force in Percy's dreams, and as the master Luke continues serving.
Assuming the show goes the same route, it would be interesting to see if Kronos takes on any bigger or smaller of a role, with his rise to power looming in the background of the entire book series.
Though Season 2 has not been officially announced, the first six episodes of Season 1 are available to stream on Disney+.
Gillian Blum has been a writer at The Direct since 2022, reporting primarily from New York City. Though she covers news from across the entertainment industry, Gillian has a particular focus on Marvel and DC, including comics, movies, and television shows. She also commonly reports on Percy Jackson, Invincible, and other similar franchises.
