I have been attending major conventions for years and have been in panels for some of the biggest IP to ever appear on the silver screen. Yet, all of those pale in comparison to the New York Comic Con panel for the upcoming Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
The panel showcased an in-depth conversation with series executive producers Jon Steinberg, Dan Shotz, and James Bobin, who also directed the first two episodes. They were joined by four members of the production team: production designer Dan Hennah, costume designer Tish Monaghan, VFX supervisor Erik Henry and ILM VFX supervisor Jeff White. Those in attendance were treated to a few clips from the show, including a first look at three of the scenes from the show, which drew cheers that nearly blew the lid off the Javits Center.
During the panel, they also revealed first-look images of the many guest actors including:
- Lin-Manuel Miranda as “Hermes” (Seen Above)
- Megan Mullally as “Alecto” aka “Mrs. Dodds”
- Toby Stephens as "Poseidon"
- Virginia Kull as “Sally Jackson”
- Jason Mantzoukas as “Dionysus” aka “Mr. D”
- Jay Duplass as “Hades”
- Glynn Turman as “Chiron” aka “Mr. Brunner”
- the late Lance Reddick as "Zeus”
- Adam Copeland as “Ares” (Seen Above)
- Charlie Bushnell as “Luke Castellan”
- Dior Goodjohn as “Clarisse La Rue”
- Jessica Parker Kennedy as “Medusa”
- Suzanne Cryer as “Echidna”
- Timm Sharp as “Gabe Ugliano”
- Timothy Omundson as “Hephaestus”
One of the more somber moments during the panel came as executive producers Jon Steinberg spoke about Lance Reddick, who passed early this year. “I'm so grateful to him that playing Zeus is going to be one of his final performances. He's so soulful and has got one of the biggest hearts. He was a very special human being," he shared.
The biggest surprise and ovation came as the panel was wrapping up and best-selling author and series executive producer Rick Riordan alongside fellow executive producer Rebecca Riordan took the stage to thank us all for “braving the monsters” before introducing the final clip of the panel: the new take on the iconic ‘capture the flag’ scene.
Stepping backstage into the press room, we had a chance to speak with executive producer James Bobin, who also directed the first two episodes. Bobin shared one of the things that excited him the most about helping bring this show to life was when he first looked at the script. “Seeing the script, it says ‘Percy Jackson’ (age 12)’ and you go ‘okay, this is going to be good’… because that world through the eyes of a 12 year old is a very interesting place anyway and a 12 year old like this, this story is going to be fantastic!”
Percy Jackson and the Olympians launches with a two-episode premiere on December 20 on Disney+, followed by new episodes weekly.