New Percy Jackson Actor Praises Upcoming Disney+ Series

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is approaching its final months of production. The Disney+ serialized adaptation of Rick Riordan's best-selling novels kicked off filming this past June and has utilized both on-location sets as well as a brand-new StageCraft virtual set from Industrial Light & Magic. While the core trio of Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell), Annabeth Chase (Leah Jeffries), and Grover Underwood (Aryan Simhadri) has been known for months, Percy Jackson continues to add top talent to its supporting ensemble. Since Camp Half-Blood's crew was announced, acclaimed actors like Lin-Manuel Miranda, WWE Hall of Famers like Adam "Edge" Copeland, and upcoming stars like Charlie Bushnell have rounded out the bill.

One of the most recent additions comes in the form of Psych and Supernatural actor Timothy Omundson, who is set to play Hephaestus. Shortly after the news officially broke, Omundson shared his excitement on Twitter, promising that Percy Jackson is "going to blow your fins off."

I wrapped my first episode last night," Omundson wrote on November 18th. "This show is going to BLOW your fins off. It's unlike ANYTHING I've ever been involved with. It's going to be incredible. Thank You, Disney Plus."

While Hephaestus does not technically debut until The Titan's Curse, the third book in Riordan's Percy Jackson pentalogy, his presence is felt in The Lightning Thief. The god of blacksmiths unintentionally catches Percy and Annabeth in a trap he originally laid out for Ares and Aphrodite.

Riordan acknowledged this change in his blog, noting that fans will "understand why" the Disney+ series has accelerated his debut.

"This is another role we've brought forward in the series, so you get to meet Hephaestus a little earlier than you would in the books, and when you see him in character, you'll understand why," Riordan wrote. "He is perfect. And he, too, has kids who are Percy Jackson fans. So many great actors with kids who have excellent taste!"

Omundson's Hephaestus joins Miranda's Hermes as characters that are arriving ahead of schedule, as the messenger god first appears in the books during The Sea of Monsters. Like the Hephaestus reasoning, Riordan promised that "it will make sense" as to why Hermes is coming in early.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is currently in production and is expected to air on Disney+ sometime in 2024.