Every fandom has its fair share of division. When the love for something is great, it's easy to get passionate about things that occur within the franchise. Percy Jackson & the Olympians fans showed their more controversial side when Leah Jeffries was cast as Annabeth Chase in the upcoming Disney+ TV series.

When the fan base learned that Disney+ was picking up their beloved franchise for a second shot at on-screen adaptation, they were ecstatic. After two failed films a decade ago, there wasn't much hope left for the series to come to life in any way but their own imaginations, After they learned that author Rick Riordan was involved in every creative decision, working alongside Disney to create a more effective TV series, it seemed like nothing could go wrong. But Jeffries' casting revealed an ugly side of the fandom.

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When Jeffries, a 12-year-old African-American actress, was cast as Annabeth Chase -- who is canonically Caucasian in the books -- some in the fandom took it personally. Race always creates a discussion in regards to casting discrepancies. For instance, Doctor Who recently announced that it is bringing back established character Rose Tyler, but not as a Caucasian woman. Instead, the new Rose will be played by African-American actress Yasmin Finney. The Doctor Who fandom has been nothing but excited, with the caveat that Finney's Rose may not be the exact same character. That enthusiasm is a far cry from the response of the Percy Jackson fandom.

In a way, the criticism is understandable. The Percy Jackson movies faced backlash for casting brunette actress Alexandra Daddario when Annabeth is canonically blond. But the toxicity of the response to Jeffries -- so intense that Riordan had to intervene -- has left an ugly stain on the Percy Jackson fan base. While not every fan attacked the choice and/or the actress on social media, enough of them did that it made a terrible impression. It's also created a divide between a once united group.

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Some of the fans raised their concerns in a more respectful way, like one Twitter user who wrote "making an explicitly white character black feels like [Riordan]’s forcing and trying too hard in the wrong places," but the hateful comments garnered more attention. Startefact reported that Jeffries received so much hate that she deleted her TikTok account. Being upset over a discrepant casting of a character that has been established with almost 20 years of description and fanart is understandable. Taking out those feelings on a 12-year-old girl is not.

Percy Jackson fans' response to Jeffries is overblown, especially when Aryan Simhadri is also of a different race than his character Grover, and yet he hasn't faced the same level of backlash. Jeffries is a talented young actor who has Rick Riordan's endorsement as he believes she best represents Annabeth Chase's personality, regardless of the color of her skin. That's what matters most, and fans should close this ugly chapter in the fandom's history.