Almost a year after being renewed for Season 2, Percy Jackson and the Olympians is wrapping up filming for its second installment.
In that time, a lot has been revealed about the new season of the Disney+ hit, and what fans can expect from the season inspired by the second of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians novels, The Sea of Monsters.
Percy Jackson Season 2 Just Finished Filming in Vancouver: When Will It Release?
Rick Riordan Encouraged Fans to Use Season 1 Timeline as a Guide
At D23 in August 2024, it was confirmed Season 2 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians would be hitting Disney+ in 2025. As for a more specific date, most signs point to the end of the year, likely between October and December of 2025 — though that is not official by any means.
Right after Season 2 was announced, Rick Riordan (author of the Percy Jackson novels, and an Executive Producer on the show) encouraged fans to use Season 1's production timeline as a guide for what Season 2 will likely look like.
Percy Jackson Season 2 Writing Began Before It Was Official
Percy Jackson has the benefit of being an adaptation, meaning there is always a general idea of what comes next in the story, even if an official continuation is still forthcoming.
With that in mind, it is relatively unsurprising that preliminary work on Season 2 began before Season 1 even officially premiered, let alone before Season 2 was announced.
As such, when the writers' room first assembled last February to work on the now-confirmed Season 2, they were not "starting from zero," as Riordan put it.
Confirming that, like Season 1, the new season will have eight episodes, Riordan shared that by May 2, half of the scripts were finished, with the other four episodes' outlines being finished.
Season 2 Filming Started in August and Just Ended
After a camera test on July 31 — shared on Instagram by director James Bobin — production officially began in British Columbia in early August (Aug. 10 marked one week into filming, according to Bobin).
In early October, Riordan confirmed that filming was roughly one-third finished, and on schedule.
The last day of on-location shooting was Dec. 4, according to a Threads post from DP Jules Oloughlin. In a Jan. 14 Bluesky post, Riordan confirmed that the team is "head[ing] into the home stretch of principal photography," adding that there are "still many months of post-production work to do after [they] wrap."
While the Director's Guild of Canada website listed Jan. 30 as the final day of filming, it appears to actually have been the day after.
Of course, not everyone has been involved in every single part of filming. For instance, behind-the-scenes photos on Riordan's BlueSky reveal that after having left earlier on, both Charlie Bushnell (Luke) and Dior Goodjohn (Clarisse) returned to the set. It is unknown if this was planned (ADR, promotions, or something similar) or to make last-minute changes.
One other thing worth noting is that Riordan revealed in a recent Goodreads Q&A that he has "early cuts of the first two episodes," with no "post-production effects yet," calling them "already amazing:"
"I'm looking forward to everything about 'PJO' season two! I've seen early cuts of the first two episodes now (without any post-production effects yet) and they are already amazing."
Comparing Season 1 and Season 2 Milestones
Taking Riordan's advice to use Season 1's timeline to guide expectations for Season 2's, fans can most likely expect to see Percy Jackson Season 2 release at the end of 2025, likely between October and December.
Here is a comparison of every confirmed milestone Riordan recommended fans use from the Season 1 timeline to guide Season 2 expectations:
- Green light announced | Season 1: January 2022 / Season 2: February 2024
- First casting announced | S1: Percy, April 2022 / S2: Tyson, July 2024
- Additional main casting announced | S1: Grover and Annabeth, May 5, 2022 / S2: Thalia, Sept. 23, 2024
- Filming begins | S1: June 2, 2022 / S2: Early August, 2024
- Filming wraps | S1: Feb. 2, 2023 / S2: Jan. 31, 2025
- Post-production begins | S1: March 2023 / S2: Unknown
- Season premiere | S1: December 2023 / S2: Unknown
If the same timeline were to be followed, it would look like an almost identical post-production and premiere timeline, which would be March 2025 and December 2025 respectively.
However, as Riordan said early on, Season 2 proved easier in some regards (which likely contributes to why Season 2's filming started two months after Season 1's two years prior, but they end just days apart in their years).
All that to say, December is not a guarantee by any means, but based on the roughly two-month filming time difference, it would likely be no earlier than October. However, that is speculation, not anything official.
What Will Percy Jackson Season 2 Be About?
Season 2 Will Adapt the Sea of Monsters
Naturally, Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 will be an adaptation of the second of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson novels.
It picks up about a year after the events of the first book (and therefore the first season), and focuses primarily on Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Tyson, and, separately from the other three, Clarisse LaRue, on their searches for the Golden Fleece.
Thalia's Tree, which maintains the border that keeps monsters out of Camp Half-Blood, is dying at the beginning of the book, and Percy and Annabeth realize that the Golden Fleece, capable of healing anything, is the only way to save the weakening tree.
Meanwhile, Grover has gone missing, there are some changes in leadership at camp, and Percy begins to learn just how powerful a demigod he is.
Around the start of filming, Disney released the season's official synopsis, which notably teases how Percy's "friendship with Annabeth is changing" — exciting news for Percabeth fans looking forward to seeing the multi-season enemies-to-friends-to-lovers story adapted onscreen.
The full synopsis is as follows:
"Season 2 of 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians' is based on the second installment of Disney Hyperion’s best-selling book series titled 'The Sea of Monsters' by award-winning author Rick Riordan. In the new season, Percy Jackson returns to Camp Half-Blood one year later to find his world turned upside down. His friendship with Annabeth is changing, he learns he has a cyclops for a brother, Grover has gone missing, and camp is under siege from the forces of Kronos. Percy’s journey to set things right will take him off the map and into the deadly Sea of Monsters, where a secret fate awaits the son of Poseidon."
Fan-favorite Book Moments Will Be Adapted
As was repeatedly emphasized during Season 1, book authenticity is hugely important to the team behind Percy Jackson and the Olympians — so, it stands to reason that will be the case for Season 2 as well.
While not everything will align one-to-one, as will be discussed in the next section, it will generally look like the book fans know and love.
Throughout pre-production and filming, several fan-favorite book scenes and elements were officially confirmed for the show, or have casting announcements that imply their inclusions. These include:
- Grover in a wedding dress
- The taxi ride with the Grey Sisters
- Tantalus taking over for Chiron
- Chariot races
- Seeing Percy (and presumably both Annabeth and Tyson, though Walker Scobell was the one to confirm this) first enter the Sea of Monsters
- Circe's Island
- Polyphemus's cave
Another small confirmed detail is that Grover will have his signature panpipes from the Percy Jackson books this season. Beyond that, several book scenes have been implied and teased, though not technically point-blank confirmed, such as the iconic siren encounter.
Season 2 Will Have Some Differences From The Books
There have been several parts of the show to be confirmed that are not originally from the books. One major one is an entirely new character, who will be discussed later on, but there are a few other new pieces too, and some familiar pieces that may be missing.
A particularly noteworthy addition is that there will be a few flashbacks from Annabeth's point of view.
The five original Percy Jackson books are all told from Percy's first-person perspective, so seeing some of the flashbacks from Annabeth's time on the run with Thalia and Luke that she describes in the books from her point-of-view will be entirely new for fans.
Speaking of flashbacks, there will also be at least one flashback to Percy's childhood in the show, confirmed by an Instagram post from the set featuring Azriel Dalman (who plays Young Percy) in a school uniform.
The photo shows him with his tongue blue, implying the eating of blue food—a Sally Jackson specialty. However, it is not technically confirmed if that was blue food from behind the scenes, or as part of the show.
It is also possible that fans will see Annabeth's siren scene vision (as in, what she was shown in an attempt to tempt her to the sirens in the Sea of Monsters).
This mainly comes from the casting of Andra Day as Athena, who does not actually, physically appear in the series until the next installment (The Titan's Curse). She is mentioned, though, as being part of Annabeth's vision in the book, making it very possible that this is how she will fit into the season. This is not official though, simply speculation.
As for some potential book elements that could be missing from Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2, the big ones could be Charlie Beckendorff helping Tyson when he first arrives at Camp Half-Blood (and also Beckendorff's role in the chariot races), and Silena Beauregard starting to teach Percy how to ride a pegasus.
The doubt in these scenes comes from the lack of clarity regarding whether these two beloved side characters will be appearing in Season 2 at all. They are the only major Season 2 characters to not have castings announced as of now, and a post from Executive Producer Becky Riordan indicates they may not appear.
However, none of that is official — Riordan has specified in her social media bio that unless it explicitly says so, what she posts should not be considered official news. But, it does add more weight to the Silena-and-Charlie-are-not-appearing side of the argument.
Still, the show could surprise fans by including the duo; Nothing is off the table yet.
Who Will Be In Percy Jackson Season 2?
Who Is Returning from Season 1?
The core cast from Season 1 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians are returning for Season 2.
Walker Scobell (Percy Jackson), Aryan Simhadri (Grover Underwood), and Leah Sava Jeffries (Annabeth Chase) are continuing as series regulars. Joining them as regulars for Season 2 are Season 1 recurring guest stars Charlie Bushnell (Luke Castellan) and Dior Goodjohn (Clarisse LaRue).
Goodjohn particularly has an increased role in Season 2, with much of the story involving her character. In the recent Goodreads Q&A, Riordan shared that Goodjohn "definitely brought her 'A game' to this season:"
"One thing I really appreciate about season two is Clarisse LaRue being more of a major character, just as she is in the 'Sea of Monsters' book. Dior Goodjohn has definitely brought her 'A game' to this season -- I can't wait for viewers to see her incredible work!"
Other Season 1 returners include Adam Copeland (Ares), Jason Mantzoukas (Dionysus), Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hermes), Azriel Dalman (Young Percy), and Glynn Turman (Chiron).
Based on book-accuracy, fans can expect to also see Virginia Kull (Sally Jackson), possibly Toby Stephens (Poseidon) — though it could just be his voice reading Percy a letter at one point, if even that), and possibly the voice of Nick Boraine ("Voice in Dream" / Kronos).
However, none of these three have been officially listed as appearing in the new season yet.
Courtney B. Vance Will Replace Lance Reddick
It was confirmed by Variety in early December that Courtney B. Vance would be taking over as Zeus in Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2. Lance Reddick played the character in Season 1, before passing away in March of 2023.
Another character being recast for Season 2 is Chris Rodriguez. Andrew Alvarez played Chris in Season 1 — though his role was incredibly minor — but Kevin Chacon will take over for Season 2. There is no clear reason why the change was made.
Season 2 Will Include Close to A Dozen New Characters
As for characters being introduced in Season 2, there is a plethora to get excited to see.
The sixth of the six series regulars for Season 2, Daniel Diemer is taking on the role of Tyson, Percy's Cyclops half-brother. His casting was announced at San Diego Comic-Con in July of 2024, in a video talking about how much he loved the books as a kid.
Tyson's physicality is very important to his character — it is important to his journey that he be slightly bigger than the other campers, and have the distinctive single eye of a cyclops.
Fittingly, right after the casting announcement, Simhadri started joking about just how tall Diemer is. Interestingly, though, at the Percy Jackson D23 panel a couple of weeks later, it was revealed that no prosthetics were being used to give Tyson his single eye.
On August 15, it was announced that Veep's Timothy Simons would take on the role of Tantalus. After Chiron is forced to leave his role as Camp Half-Blood's activities director at the beginning of the story, Tantalus — the cannibal from Greek mythology who was punished by never being able to touch food.
According to the Variety article with the casting announcement, Tantalus is described as, "sardonic, manipulative, openly hostile, and rarely in a good mood."
Speaking to People Magazine, Simons said he "had a really wonderful time" filming, and talked about the "fun" he can have on the show:
"The adults get to be a little bit scary in moments and goofy ... We can really have fun and be a little bit bigger—because essentially I was doing mask work. I had two and a half hours in the makeup chair every morning."
At D23, a couple of weeks after Simons was announced, it was revealed that Sandra Bernhard, Kristen Schaal, and Margaret Cho would be playing the three Gray Sisters (Anger, Tempest, and Wasp, respectively) who all share one eye.
These three take Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson on a wild taxi ride near the beginning of The Sea of Monsters.
The D23 panelists revealed that Anger is "in charge of collecting cab fare from heroes who call upon the taxi," Tempest "currently has the coveted eye and uses it to peer at the heroes," and Wasp is "the main driver."
Perhaps the most eagerly awaited of the Season 2 casting announcements, Thalia Grace was announced as being played by Tamara Smart in late September of 2024. Thalia is the daughter of Zeus who was turned into a tree by her father.
Ironically, Smart did play Lance Reddick's daughter in Resident Evil, and though the Zeus fans will see her interact with in the show is Courtney B. Vance, it is still a sweet carryover from the Season 1 Zeus, even after his passing.
Smart is originally from London, leaving some fans curious if the show's Thalia would have a British accent. On a promotional event for 2024's Wrath of the Triple Goddess book (part of "The Senior Year Adventures" trilogy of Percy Jackson books), Rick Riordan confirmed she will use her British accent, saying, "Punk was born in England."
As mentioned earlier, Andra Day will be joining the cast in Season 2 as Athena, Annabeth's godly parent. this was announced at D23 Brazil on Nov. 10, 2024. Day introduced herself with a video, which was then posted on the show's official Instagram page:
In late December, the final wave of casting was announced. This included Chacon, as well as Rosemarie DeWitt as C.C. (AKA Circe), Alex Paunovic as Polyphemus, and Beatrice Kitsos as Allison Simms.
Allison is an entirely new character for the show and will be a former camper from Camp Half-Blood who begins working with Luke and Chris Rodriguez for Kronos' cause.
With Luke's betrayal of Percy (and an onlooking Annabeth) in Season 1, the tensions between the heroes and this new trio will likely be high, and there may be more emphasis put on them than in the books, thanks to the inclusion of a third character.
It also seems that Sage Linder is joining the cast this season in a minor role, which has not been revealed yet.
Who Is Working On Percy Jackson Season 2?
Season 2 has a stacked production team — and that is even before the full crew has been made public.
Executive Producers include Jonathan E. Steinberg, Dan Shotz, Rick Riordan, Rebecca Riordan, Craig Silverstein, Bert Salke, The Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell and D.J. Goldberg, James Bobin, Jim Rowe, Albert Kim, Jason Ensler, and Sarah Watson. John Catron and Zoë Neary both serve as producers.
Bobin, Ensler, and Catriona McKenzie are all confirmed to have directed at least one episode. It has already been confirmed that McKenzie directed the episode on Circe's Island.
Jules Oloughlin is the show's Director of Photography, and he shared two photos on Threads featuring the camera team.
Jonathan E. Steinberg, Dan Shotz, and Rick Riordan are all confirmed as writers on the show. Though not listed anywhere officially, writers Daphne Olive and Shae Worthy seemed to also have been in the Season 2 writer's room.
Social media posts indicate that Jeannie Chow worked on hairstyling this season, and Dean Goodine did props.
Bear McCreary is composing the music for Season 2, picking up from his work on Season 1. Speaking with The Direct at New York Comic Con, McCreary shared his long-term plan for Annabeth's big journey in the show moving forward:
Additionally, the Director's Guild of Canada's website lists several more on the crew.
Bliss McDonald is listed as a Production Manager. The Location Manager listed is Rino Pace, with Jason Collier, Sean Finnan, Christina Mozylisky, and Juraj (George) Spisak listed as Assistant Location Managers, and Pariya H. Tari listed as Trainee Assistant Location Manager.
Assistant Directors listed include Jim Brebner as 1st Assistant Director, Gordie Piper and Scott Kukurudz as 2nd Assistant Directors, Jillian Budac and Jillian Wilson as 3rd Assistant Directors, and Curtis Hunter and Soo Min Park as Trainee Assistant Directors.
Lesley Annett, Crystal Kong, and Lucas Tobin-Campbell are listed as Key Production Assistants, with Emily McMorran listed as Operations & Production Assistant.
Tara Mews is listed as Production Coordinator, and Sandra-Ken Freeman is listed as being in charge of Extras Casting.
Behind the Scenes From Percy Jackson Season 2's Production
Director's Journal Reveals Behind-the-Scenes Teases
Jason Ensler, one of the aforementioned directors on the show, has kept a detailed "Director's Journal" on Threads about his experiences working on Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2.
Those interested can read all the entries so far on Ensler's Threads account. Some of the highlights are listed here:
"Distilling the essence of a person into a meaningful character is perhaps the hardest work we do. Logistics, explosions, battling sea monsters — all a picnic in comparison."
"Once there was a prop so big it obstructed a hallway scene. My instinct was to lose it, but it was necessary for story. As the day went on + time became precious, we had to move a scene in which characters hide, to our existing hallway set-up. Where could they possibly elude their captors? Behind the giant prop, perhaps? Voila!"
"Today our tone is mythological adventure! The bullseye is found in the contrast b/t human + demi-god, in themes of courage, identity, fate, in wide moving shots, kinetic closeups, symbolic motifs, moments of wonder, immersive sets, precise fight choreography, climactic confrontations, what fun."
Plus, here is a quick bonus quote from the journal, added simply because of the excitement it brought many fans:
"Shooting a scene today that needs a rom com like energy."
Some Sets and Props Revealed
In early September, DP Jules Oloughlin posted a picture of filming on water, giving one of the first looks at the actual on-water part of Season 2's production.
Soon after, Bobin shared a picture from the day they shot the chariot races, with hints of various banners and flags behind what looks like a pegasus-drawn chariot, on Instagram.
Later in the month, Percy Jackson Season 2's production required a temporary "partial beach closure" for "both land and water scenes" at the Spanish Banks West Extension near the off-leash dog area.
During the time filming there, there was a report and photo of a lot of smoke coming from that area.
In a live telecast for D23 Brazil, Simhadri, Scobell, Jeffries, and Riordan made their various announcements from the Percy Jackson part of the panel, in front of a set from the show.
In a follow-up article, Riordan explained exactly what this set is — "an interior of the Big House at Camp Half-Blood" featuring "a model chariot track:"
"The photo above shows us on set — an interior of the Big House at Camp Half-Blood with a model chariot track on the table behind us, where Mr. D and Tantalus can admire their fantasy chariot teams and dream of the upcoming races. The footage of the actual chariot races? Oh, wow. It’s pretty incredible, but for now, you’ll have to take my word for it."
Additionally, new updates from Riordan reveal that not only did they recently film with the guinea pigs for Circe's Island, but also that another scene they filmed near the end of production somehow involved a Macaw. Similarly, a couple months prior, assistant director Curtis Hunter shared two videos of live sheep on the Percy Jackson set to his Instagram story.
First Looks at Percy Jackson Season 2
Percy Jackson Season 2 Released a Brief Teaser Trailer
D23 2024 came just days into filming for Percy Jackson Season 2 began, and they managed to pull enough together in that short time to show a brief teaser trailer at the convention.
The short bits of footage showed a few iconic Season 1 moments, including Percy's fight with Alecto, his claiming, and the Minotaur battle, among others. Then, it gives a glimpse at the highly anticipated chariot race scene, before panning up to show the first look at Percy in Season 2.
Behind this is new narration, with Percy saying:
"My name is Percy Jackson. I am a demigod. Monsters come at me. So do the gods. Last year, I had to stop a war. But that is just the beginning."
Watch the teaser trailer here:
First Official Poster and Still from Season 2 Also Revealed at D23
Also at D23, the first poster for the new season was released, along with the confirmation of a 2025 release, and the tagline "New Storm Rising."
The next day, at the convention's panel devoted entirely to Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the first official still from the new season was released to the public, featuring Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson, donning armor and a helmet.
Brief Footage and New Stills from Disney+ Sizzle Reel
In November, a sizzle reel featuring glimpses at the Disney+ projects coming to the streaming service soon included more footage and lines from the new season — brief, but something.
The narration says: "All of this, this world... Everything's changed."
Soon after, the Percy Jackson and the Olympians Instagram account shared four stills from the new footage, adding to the small but mighty collection of official Season 2 stills.
There is no specific release date for Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2, but it will be released sometime in 2025.
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.
