Percy JacksonAuthor Rick Riordan Says Don't Expect a Multiverse Anytime Soon — But It's Not Off The Table (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Rick Riordan of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” poses in the IMDb Official Portrait Studio at D23 2024 at Honda Center on August 09, 2024 ; Disney’s “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” stars Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson, Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth, and Aryan Simhadri as Grover.Photo:Corey Nickols/Getty; Disney

Corey Nickols/Getty; Disney

The multiverse may be permeating other fantastical worlds, such as Marvel and the D.C. comics, but don’t expect it forPercy Jacksonjust yet.

Rick Riordan, the author of the beloved series, tells PEOPLE that whileseason 2 of the Disney+ seriesPercy Jackson and the Olympiansis chugging along (and is “bigger and even better than season one”), he has been intentional about separating 2010’sPercy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thiefand 2013’sPercy Jackson: Sea of Monstersfrom the current show.

“It was a very conscious decision that we said, ‘Okay, we’re not going to deal with the movie stuff,'” he says. “I don’t want anything to overshadow the new young cast and take away from them. This needs to be their moment, and we need to give them room to breathe and be these characters without worrying about anything that came before.”

The show features newcomers Walker Scobell as Percy, Leah Jeffries as Annabeth and Aryan Simhadri as Grover, all in their breakout roles.

While other fantasy worlds have introduced past actors who have played the same character back into the canon through multiverses, Riordan says he’s unsure whether we’ll be seeingLogan Lerman, who originally played Percy 14 years ago, or any ofthe original castback on the silver screen,

“I mean, Marvel didn’t get into the multiverse — how many movies were they into it before they introduced that concept?” Riordan says. “So I think if that were to happen, that’s way down the line.”

Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson ; Logan Lerman as Percy Jackson.Disney/David Bukach; Kobal/Shutterstock

Disney/David Bukach; Kobal/Shutterstock

Riordan was famously strongly opposed to the original films — calling them his “life’s work going through a meat grinder” — as the creators allegedly didn’t consult with him on the script. Now, he says, he has much more creative control and has been writing on the scripts himself.

“I am at a point in my career when I can have the time and where I have the power, frankly, to be part of the process and make sure my voice is heard,” he says. “I now understand how things can go so horribly wrong with adaptations.”

Riordan teases that he’s seen the scripts for season 2 — and he’s “really happy with them,” meaning fans have much to look forward to in the coming season after season 1 finished airing in early 2024.

The author says this season will “cut away and fill in some of the history of the characters and the backstory” through a series of flashbacks to help readers understand the backstory of all the characters more deeply. He also teases that a fan-favorite character, Thalia Grace, will be introduced.

Aryan Simhadri as Grover, Leah Jeffries as Annabeth and Walker Scobell as Percy in ‘Percy Jackson & The Olympians’.Disney/David Bukach

Disney/David Bukach

His latest novel,Wrath of the Triple Goddess, hit bookshelves on Sept. 24, the second in his latestPercytrilogy,The Senior Year Adventures.

“The fact that this little story that I told [my son] is still with us and kids are still picking it up for the first time today, and there are readers now who read it and are old enough now that they’re starting to have kids of their own — I mean, the whole thing is just mind-boggling,” Riordan adds.

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Percy Jackson and the Olympiansseason 1 is now streaming on Disney+.

source: people.com