Disney+ has officially announced that Lost in Space star Toby Stephens and John Wick vet Lance Reddick have been cast in the major roles of Poseidon and Zeus in the upcoming Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Stephens and Reddick are both set as guest stars who will be joining previously announced titular lead Walker Scobell.
Their official character descriptions read (via Variety):
- Stephen’s Poseidon — The god of the sea who’s also the titular demigod’s father. Although seemingly absent in Percy’s life, many of Poseidon’s qualities live in Percy; stubbornness, impulsiveness and loyalty. Though he has stayed away throughout Percy’s life, his deep feelings for his son (and Percy’s mother, Sally) are evident.
- Reddick’s Zeus – The all-powerful god of the sky and leader of Mount Olympus, Zeus is tempestuous and mistrustful. He’s promised to wage a war if his stolen thunderbolt is not returned.
They are the latest actors tapped to portray Greek gods in the live-action TV adaptation. The first ones were Jason Mantzoukas (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) as Dionysus, former WWE superstar Adam Copeland as Ares, Jay Duplass as Hades, Lin-Manuel Miranda as Hermes, and Timothy Omundson as Hephaestus.
The series currently stars Walker Scobell (The Adam Project) as the titular demi-god, Leah Sava Jeffries (Empire) as Annabeth Chase, Aryan Simhadri (Disney’s Spin) as Grover Underwood, Dior Goodjohn (Head of the Class) as Clarisse La Rue, Charlie Bushnell (Diary of a Future President) as Luke Castellan, Virginia Kull (Big Little Lies) as Sally Jackson, Glynn Turman (Fargo) as Chiron, Megan Mullally (Will & Grace) as Mr. Dodds, Olivea Morton as Nancy Bobofit, and Timm Sharp (Briarpatch) as Gabe Ugliano.
“The live-action series tells the fantastical story of the titular 12-year-old modern demigod, Percy Jackson, who’s just coming to terms with his newfound supernatural powers when the sky god Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt,” reads the synopsis. “Now Percy must trek across America to find it and restore order to Olympus.”
The Percy Jackson and the Olympians Disney+ series is being directed by James Bobin from a screenplay co-written by Rick Riordan and Jon Steinberg (The Old Man), based on Riordan’s first installment of his hit Camp Half-Blood Chronicles book series.
Executive producers are Riordan, Bobin, Steinberg, Dan Shotz, Rebecca Riordan, Bert Salke, Monica Owusu-Breen, Jim Rowe, and Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell, and D.J. Goldberg. 20th Television is also producing.
