Trademarked by demigods, gods, and mythical creatures— “Percy Jackson” has become a cultural phenomenon and cultivated franchise with a unique fanbase that heavily adores the books—which became evident when a movie adaptation came out that is now synonymous with disappointment. 

The first book in the series, “The Lightening Thief,” came out in 2005. Shortly, after five years, the book was turned into a movie. It quickly turned out to be controversial after fans claimed that the movie was not book-accurate at all  

The book series by author Rick Riordian centers around a boy, Percy, who finds out he’s a demigod and the son of the Greek god of the sea, Poseidon. With friends Annabeth and Gover, Percy goes on journeys to save the future of the world. 

One main criticism of the original movie was the fact that in the first book, Percy is twelve years old; whereas, in the movie Percy (Logan Lerman) is drastically older being played by a 17-year-old actor. Viewers also noted that the entire essence of the books was missing in the movies—it was much more mature and less lighthearted than its original source material. Above all, the author did not have any say in the making of the movies. 

Later, he would publicly state his distaste for the movie saying that he would not even view it: “I still have not seen the movies, and don’t plan on ever doing so.” He compared the movies to “life’s work going through a meat grinder when [he] pleaded with them not to do it.” 

Therefore, when Disney announced that they would be recreating Percy Jackson in a show format with the author involved – the fans were excited. Junior Alise Pauksena claimed that the show was much better than the movies: “I thought [the show] was much more true to the source material.” However, she went on to add that it struggled in some areas too. “The pacing was a bit off and it would better serve in a longer episode format.”

With a newly opened outlet devoted to exploring the Percy Jackson universe—fans are enthralled to see it become fully flushed out. It has already fixed some of the issues the movies had. And, with a plethora of material to build off of, the universe can only grow from here. Currently, only one season is streaming on Disney+ so there is much to anticipate in the future.