‘Percy Jackson’ Is a Hit, But Some Still Can’t Get Over the Diverse Casting

Much like Bruno, Percy Jackson fans don’t like to talk about the movies. And it’s not just the fans. Author Rick Riordan said it was like “watching his life work go through a meat grinder.” But now, it appears that both Rick Riordan and Percy Jackson fans are all quite satisfied with the new version streaming on Disney Plus.

'Percy Jackson' author Rick Riordan started roasting the films — 'I'm just sorry [the actors] got dragged into that mess' 😬 pic.twitter.com/gbL2hUR1ae

— Fandom (@getFANDOM) June 8, 2020

According to Variety, the first episode of Percy Jackson and the Olympians brought in 13.3 million viewers in its first six days on Disney Plus and Hulu. This makes it one of the top five premiere episodes for 2023. Disney did not release the other five shows, but the premiere episode of the Star Wars show, Ahsoka, had 14 million viewers during its first six days. The season two premiere of Marvel’s Loki had 10.9 million viewers in its first six days.

And it’s not just Percy Jackson fans who love the show. It has a 96 percent rating on Rotten Tomato, and Forbes called it the best thing on Disney Plus since Loki. But despite all the positive energy surrounding the show, some can’t get over Disney making a change to one of the characters to add more diversity to the show.

Walker Scobell plays Percy Jackson in the series, and Leah Jeffries plays Annabeth Chase. Some fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice their displeasure with the casting of Leah Jeffries, who is African American, in the role of Annabeth Chase, who is described in the Percy Jackson books as being “blond.”

One fan wrote on X:

So far I feel like the new Percy Jackson show is a big let down. Like again in the first movie they didn’t get Annabeth right once again. I’m not being racist but Annabeth should be white not Black l have nothing against her being Black. They just need it to be like the book.

But once fans got a look at the TV show, they immediately jumped to Jeffries’ defense, with one fan writing on X that she “cried” when she saw that the daughter of Athena was African American. And Rick Riordan was quick to jump to her defense. 

I never want to see people doubt Leah as Annabeth again because this girl can ACT #PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians #percyjackson pic.twitter.com/9keySoTnch

— black with comic takes (@blkcomictwit) December 20, 2023

Riordan said:

As strong as Leah is, as much as we have discussed the potential for this kind of reaction and the intense pressure this role will bring, the negative comments she has received online are out of line. They need to stop. Now. You are judging her appropriateness for this role solely and exclusively on how she looks. She is a Black girl playing someone who was described in the books as white. Friends, that is racism.

This isn’t the first time Disney has faced backlash for changing a character. Critics were angry when Disney cast Halle Bailey as Ariel in the live-action Little Mermaid and Rachel Ziegler in the live-action Snow White. It is important to remember that this is a fictional TV show based on a book series about Greek mythology. And that Leah Jeffries just turned 14. The young actor has handled this better than most adults on X.

a badass disabled demi-god in a wheelchair, it's everything to me and once again a step in disability rep in media!! (also means camp half-blood is accessible!) #PercyJackson #PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians pic.twitter.com/Q060G40xqE

— emma (@carryourworld) December 20, 2023

Jeffries said:

I listen to people say things and try to tear me down. They say you are not her [Annabeth]. You can’t play her like Alexandra Daddario. But, you know what? They’re right. I’m not her, and I cannot play like her. But, I’m going to show you who I am, and how I’m going to play it. I’m not trying to be like anyone else. I want to be myself, and I want to make sure that other girls understand that too.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is now streaming on Disney Plus, with new episodes every Tuesday. Besides Jeffries and Scobell, Percy Jackson also stars Aryan Simhadri, Megan Mullally, and Lin-Manuel Miranda as Hermes and Lance Reddick as Zeus.

We will continue to update this story at Disney Fanatic.