The Percy Jackson and the Olympians cast have a date with the God of War.
Per Instagram, Adam Copeland shared a photo of Ares sitting on a motorbike and dressed in a leather jacket while teasing his first encounter with the titular character. "The strike is over so I can finally say, Ares is coming!" the former WWE star-turned-actor wrote, adding, "Percy Jackson starts streaming on Disney+ Dec.20. Trust me, he's not as cuddly as he looks here."
Copeland's performance marks Ares' first speaking part in a Percy Jackson adaptation, with 2010's The Lightning Thief movie omitting his book storyline altogether. The film has long been criticized by Percy Jackson readers for its lack of source material faithfulness, with author Rick Riordan singling out the decision to age up Percy and his friends Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood as a primary example. Though he recognized why this was done, Riordan criticized how this created "a completely different dynamic. You lose so much of the wonder. The magic of being a middle grader doesn't come across the same way. There's a jaded teenage quality."
The Disney+ show's trailer not only features an appearance by Ares, but clips of Percy and Annabeth's tunnel of love ride which also didn't appear in the 2010 film. A select number of fans received a first look at Percy Jackson and the Olympians at New York Comic Con last month, including the first episode's opening minutes, the Minotaur's arrival, and a game of Capture the Flag at Camp Half-Blood. Exclusive pictures of the adult cast were later revealed, including Copeland's Ares, Jason Mantzoukas' Dionysus, Toby Stephens' Poseidon, Lin Manuel-Miranda's Hermes, and the late Lance Reddick as Zeus. Percy, meanwhile, will be played by Walker Scobell (The Adam Project), with Leah Sava Jeffries and Aryan Simhadr joining him as Annabeth and Grover.
Will Percy Jackson and the Olympians Get a Second Season?
So far, Disney has yet to officially renew Percy Jackson and the Olympians for season 2, which would adapt Percy's second book adventure The Sea of Monsters. However, 20th Television President Karey Burke not only confirmed her interest in adapting all of Riordan's Camp Half-Blood Chronicles stories, but potentially building a Percy Jackson-themed Disney World exhibit as well. Another Riordan property, The Kane Chronicles, was picked up for a movie adaptation by Netflix in 2020, but so far, no release date announcements have been made yet. Riordan, meanwhile, released his latest Percy Jackson book The Chalice of the Gods in September and currently has plans for two more sequels, one of which will come out next year.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians will premiere on Disney+ on Dec. 20, 2023
Source: Instagram