How Percy Jackson's New Series Fixes a 13-Year-Old Failure from the Movies

The Failure of the 2010 Movies

The first adaptation series of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson books began in 2010 with Logan Lerman in the titular role. While the cast and production value of the film were admirable, the Percy Jackson movie made too many book changes to be considered a good adaptation of the original stories. Despite a sequel to the film being released in 2013, the lack of faithfulness resulted in the franchise being canceled in favor of a Disney+ reboot.

Clarisse La Rue smiling sarcastically in Percy Jackson episode 2

On Disney+, Percy Jackson and the Olympians' new cast of characters is bringing to life the stories of Riordan's books faithfully, finally proving to be a translation book fans have called for since 2005. The fidelity on show in the Percy Jackson series is astounding, driven by Riordan, who serves as the adaptation's producer, writer, and creator.

Chris Rodriguez next to a smither from the Hephaestus Cabin in Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Introduction of Clarisse La Rue

The main way Disney's Percy Jackson is lovingly fixing problems of the 2010 movie is by introducing what is ironically an easily dislikable character. The character in question is Clarisse La Rue, the daughter of Ares whom Percy clashes with in Percy Jackson and the Olympians episode 2. Despite being a bully and an antagonist to Percy, Clarisse is a highly important character in the Percy Jackson book series and is emblematic of the 2010 movie series' biggest issues.

Clarisse symbolizes these problems as she was completely ignored in 2010's Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. While her character was included in the second movie where she gets a much more prominent role, there was no set-up for her character in the first film. This is an issue that Percy Jackson and the Olympians is completely avoiding by including Clarisse at Camp Half-Blood.

Teasing Other Major Book Characters

While Clarisse is the most notable way in which Percy Jackson and the Olympians fixes the 2010 movie's mistakes of leaving out important book characters, a few others are teased in episodes 1 and 2. One of these is Chris, the son of Hermes who is shown with Percy and Luke in Percy Jackson episode 2. This character is presumably Chris Rodriguez, a character who becomes vital to the stories of Percy Jackson's fourth and fifth books as well as linking to Clarisse's overall arc.

Similarly, a montage in Percy Jackson episode 2 shows Luke touring Percy around Camp Half-Blood. The archery sequences tease the Apollo cabin which contains more characters that become important later in the book series. The same can be said for the Hephaestus cabin, with vital characters in the later books being housed here. All of this just proves that Percy Jackson and the Olympians is telling a more complete version of the books' stories by actively foreshadowing major characters in a way the 2010 film disappointingly did not.