This review contains spoilers

Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a beloved book series that many have grown up reading. In the ten years since the first installment’s publication, The Lightning Thief, over 190 million copies have been sold. Plenty of loyal fans anticipated a screen adaptation and got one with the first movie starring Logan Lerman and Alexandra Daddario in 2010. 

However, many were disappointed with the movie’s inaccuracy with the source material. Then, in December 2023, Disney+ released a fresh Percy Jackson and the Olympians show adaptation starring Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson, Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth Chase, and Aryan Simhadri as Grover. The first season amassed a phenomenal 91% rotten tomatoes rating and was renewed for a second season, which came out very recently in December. 

So far, season two sits at a 100% rotten tomatoes rating. Critics’ reviews generally agree that with the characters’ venture into the Sea of Monsters, the stakes and darker themes of the series were amplified even more. Critics have also praised the acting, stating that the main casts’ performance is steady and moving. 

However, some have noticed that the show has also deviated from the source material, with a few incongruencies. For example, in the book, Tyson, Percy’s half-brother and a cyclops, is concealed by the Mist and his identity is not revealed until Percy meets him at school. In the show, Sally Jackson meets Tyson and takes him in. 

Perhaps a bigger difference between the book and the show is Thalia Grace’s introduction. She is given more foreshadowing in the show, with a few episodes slowly revealing her role in the Great Prophecy in Percy’s dreams. In the book, Thalia’s revival concludes the Sea of Monsters on a cliffhanger, and her role is not as clear until the following book. 

I found that the pacing of the show was much faster than the book, accelerating storylines for Luke Castellan and especially Clarisse LaRue, who does not maintain her trademark bully persona for as long in the show as she does the books. In addition, the show features far more intense conflict, with Luke’s army attacking camp while Clarisse tries to get the fleece to the barrier, whereas this plot point does not happen until the fifth book, The Last Olympian. 

Overall, most reviewers agree that while the show feels a bit “young” at times, it is developing into a clear identity and taking shape nicely. The show was renewed for a third season in March 2025, nine months before season two even aired, so avid Percy Jackson fans can stay tuned for season three sometime in late 2026 — and even a potential five-season show before the end of the decade.