The Disney+ Percy Jackson Series Completes The Trio With Annabeth And Grover
Disney's Percy Jackson series is finally coming together. After announcing "The Adam Project" star Walker Scobell as the titular demigod, the series now boasts a completed trio with Leah Sava Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri now cast as Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood.
The series adaptation of Rick Riordan's beloved book series was ordered to series back in January, set to tell the fantastical tale of 12-year-old demigod Percy (Scobell), as he comes to terms with his newfound supernatural identity. But before he can find his footing as a part-God pre-teen, the sky god Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt. It's with the help of his friends Grover and Annabeth that Percy embarks on the adventure of a lifetime, hoping to clear his name and restore order to Olympus. As any experienced story-lover knows, no good fantasy series is complete without a crew of friends to save the world with! While the excitement for the series adaptation had been building for years now, and the announcement of Scobell as the star certainly raised spirits high, fans finally have solid ground for the hype train, now that the trio is officially complete. After all, without Annabeth and Grover, Percy probably wouldn't survive a single one of his dangerous adventures.
Wise Girl and Goat Boy have arrived!
Joining Percy on his adventures, Annabeth Chase is a true daughter of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and war. After five years spent training at demigod training facility Camp Half-Blood, Annabeth is "a brilliant strategist with an active and curious mind" who "longs to test her mettle in the human world, of which she barely remembers." As she trains her new friend to survive in the mythological world, he helps her reconnect with her humanity. Along for the ride (whether he likes it or not) is Grover, a satyr (half boy and half goat) disguised as a 12-year-old boy. Grover is described as "cautious by nature, [but] he'll always throw himself into a fight to protect his friends, especially his best friend Percy Jackson."
"Percy Jackson" fans are no stranger to the perils of the adaptation process, after the disastrous 20th Century Fox attempt to turn the popular books into a series of films. But this time, the odds seemed stacked in its favor. One of the many criticisms levied at the film adaptations was the casting, which aged up the characters and greatly altered the story. But this time around, the leads are actual teens with great performances already under their belt. Scobell is coming off his film debut in "The Adam Project," where he proved his chops by starring as a young version of Ryan Reynolds's time-traveling fighter pilot. Leah Sava Jeffries has been acting since the age of three and previously appeared in FOX's "Empire", and the Lil Rey Howery's comedy "REL." Another of her upcoming roles sees her starring opposite Idris Elba in the thriller "Beast. As for Aryan Simhadri, he's already a Disney alum as one of the leads of the Disney Channel Original movie "Spin" and is also set to star in the "Cheaper By The Dozen" reboot alongside Zach Braff and Gabrielle Union.
While the previous "Percy Jackson" adaptation was famously met with derision from the series author Rick Riordan, this time he's not only excited, but involved in the process himself, as a writer and producer. Riordan and Jon Steinberg will serve as writers of the pilot, and James Bobin ("Dora and the Lost City of Gold") will direct. The series is set to begin production this summer.