Disney+'s Percy Jackson Adds New Actor as Major Character

Production on Percy Jackson and the Olympians is officially in the rear view. The serialized adaptation of Rick Riordan's best-selling novels concluded filming on Season 1 last week, wrapping with a celebratory video of leading star Walker Scobell offering a submerged message of gratitude. The series now enters an extensive post-production process, one which is expected to take the bulk of 2023, reaffirming the rumored release date of early 2024. Even though cameras have stopped rolling and the first eight episodes now reside in the editors' room, a significant piece of casting news has made its way to shores.

According to IMDb, actress Jennifer Shirley has joined Percy Jackson as The Oracle. Shirley is most known for her brief roles on CW shows Batwoman and Supernatural, where she played a blonde squatter and Maggie Briggs, respectively. Her most recent credits come in various short films. She is currently listed as being in one episode of Percy Jackson, but considering top stars Leah Jeffries (Annabeth Chase) and Aryan Simhadri (Grover Underwood) are each said to be in two episodes, it's unlikely that that information is reliable across the board.

That said, The Oracle only appearing in one episode of Percy Jackson would align with the events of The Lightning Thief, the novel that Season 1 is based on. In that novel, The Oracle gives Percy his first prophecy, one which ominously outlines his quest to the west.

Like the Greek gods, The Oracle is used sparingly in the Percy Jackson pentalogy, but each appearance is crucial to that book's narrative. She shows face in each of the five Percy Jackson books, each time giving one of Camp Half-Blood's demigods a prophecy ahead of their quest.

While not explicitly stated, the specific Oracle that Shirley is playing is likely The Oracle of Delphi. This Oracle is the one directly connected with Camp Half-Blood and most commonly seen across the Percy Jackson universe. That said, there are five total oracles in Riordan's inter-connected novelized world. The remaining four have crucial roles in The Trials of Apollo, the book series that takes place after the events of Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is currently in post-production.