Star of the new Percy Jackson TV series Walker Scobell discusses the exciting stunt work he had to do to prepare for his role. In its original form, Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians book series is one of the best-selling books of all time, with over 180 million copies sold worldwide. In addition, two movies, The Lightning Thief (2010) and Sea of Monsters (2013), were made based on the books. Later, a television adaptation of Percy Jackson was announced by Riordan for Disney+ in 2020, with a release date in 2024.
The first scenes for the Percy Jackson films were shot in June, and set images have since shown glimpses of everything from the Camp Half-Blood cottages to the Capture the Flag gear. Riordan, the executive producer of the series, has also previewed big scenes from Percy Jackson’s eight-episode season 1. Riordan has recently stated that the show is now filming the sequences in the Lotus Hotel and Casino, a key site in the first Percy Jackson book. In addition, Ares, Medusa, and Echidna have all been recast as of late. Sneak peeks continue to be released even though principal photography has already begun.
Scobell discusses his sword training for the part of Percy Jackson in an interview with EW. If you’re a fan, you know that Percy’s go-to weapon is his trusty sword, so Scoebll had better be ready. His approaches, though, were unlike anything else I’d seen before. Check out Scobell’s comment:
“One of the training for the stunts was playing ping pong with swords. It was surprisingly not as hard as I thought it was going to be.”
Scobell’s training with the sword shows that Percy Jackson’s signature weapon, Riptide, will be featured in the series, as sword combat is a major component of demigod training at Camp Half-Blood. Scobell’s sword training is another sign that the Percy Jackson TV series will be a true version of the books since Percy battles many fabled monsters with Riptide in his hands. Fans are complimenting the casting, set, and costume design of Percy Jackson for being more loyal to the novels than the infamous, not-Riordan-approved movies, despite the fact that only behind-the-scenes photographs and a few trailer shots have been released so far.
In early October, Riordan announced that 16 of The Lightning Thief’s 22 chapters had been filmed. Unfortunately, even while filming is moving quickly, Riordan has claimed that post-production will take at least another year to finish, so there is still a long wait until the Percy Jackson show is available on Disney+. However, suppose the latest developments and Riordan’s approval are any indicators. In that case, Percy Jackson is shaping up to be exactly what lifelong fans have been waiting for.
