‘Percy Jackson’ Disney+ Series Casts ‘The Adam Project’ Star Walker Scobell In Title Role

Disney+ has found its Percy Jackson. Walker Scobell (The Adam Project) has landed the title role in Percy Jackson and the Olympians, a series adaptation of Rick Riordan’s best-selling novels.

Percy Jackson is a 12-year-old boy in modern-day that learns that he is actually a demi-god, the son of the Greek God Poseidon. The official description of the character reads:

“A smart and compassionate kid with a sharp sense of humour. He’s always seen himself as an outsider, in no small part because of how the world sees his ADHD and dyslexia. He’s impulsive and rambunctious and is quick to anger when things seem unfair to him. But beneath his cynicism is an affectionate son and loyal friend who just wants to do right by those he cares about. If only he could find a place where he fits in.”

Scobell made his film debut this year opposite Ryan Reynolds in Netflix’s The Adam Project. The film saw great success for the streaming service, being viewed for over 92 million hours in its premiere weekend. Author Riordan knew he had hit the jackpot and made the casting announcement on his website very proudly.

“Walker Scobell is an incredibly talented young man who blew us away with his audition tapes for the role of Percy,” Riordan wrote.

“Many of you recently discovered how great Walker is when you watched his movie The Adam Project, in which Walker lit up the screen as a younger version of Ryan Reynolds’ character. We were fortunate enough to audition Walker months before that movie came out, but the film only confirmed what we already knew about his talent. It was obvious to me and the rest of the team that Walker had the perfect mix of comedic timing, sweetness, rebelliousness, snark and heroism to embody our hero Percy Jackson.”

The upcoming Disney+ series is set to adapt The Lightning Thief, the first novel of the series. It sees Percy travelling across America with his friends to clear his name and return order to Mount Olympus after he is accused of stealing Zeus’s powerful master lightning bolt — all the while coming to terms with his newly learned demi-god status. 

Riordan will write the pilot episode with Jon Steinberg. James Bobin will direct. Steinberg and his producing partner Dan Shotz will oversee the series. Shooting for the series will start on 1 June 2022. A release date has yet to be announced.