Percy Jackson: First Look at WWE’s Edge as Ares Teases Major Change to The God of War

It’s becoming Percy Jackson and the Olympians season. Disney+ celebrated the son of Poseidon’s canonical birthday today with a new 30-second teaser trailer that confirmed the show’s premiere date: December 20th. While the footage was brief, each frame contained some sort of notable tie to Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief, the book that this first season is based on. Flashes of Walker Scobell’s Percy taking the Empire State Building elevator to Mount Olympus, the Minotaur attacking Gabe Ugliano’s Camaro, and a sinister glimpse at Jessica Parker Kennedy’s Medusa all hit throughout. Those fan-favorite moments aside, one specific scene has been dominating conversation: Ares’s arrival.

Ares’s Noteworthy Debut

WWE Hall of Famer Adam “Edge” Copeland makes his debut as the god of war in Percy Jackson and the Olympians‘s latest teaser trailer. Ares is brought to life straight from The Lightning Thief‘s pages, wielding his signature sword and clad in his familiar leather trench coat. 

While his book-accurate attire has fans overjoyed, the more intriguing element lies in his location.

Ares is seen standing on a beach with a lighthouse in the background. This would suggest he’s in Santa Monica, the location of his and Percy’s battle in The Lightning Thief, but the lighthouse teases otherwise.

The white-and-red lighthouse from the Percy Jackson trailer resembles the real-life lighthouse seen in Montauk, New York. Coincidentally enough, Montauk is a noteworthy spot within the Percy Jackson novelized universe as well.

How Long Has Ares Known About Percy Jackson?

In the books, Sally Jackson (Percy’s mother) meets Poseidon at Montauk. It is there that they spend a summer together before Poseidon returns to his godly duties at Olympus, leaving her bearing child. After Percy is born, Sally regularly brings him back to Montauk to vacation. Their last Montauk getaway comes right before the Minotaur attacks and accelerates Percy leap to Camp Half-Blood.

As for Ares’s novelized history, he doesn’t pop up in The Lightning Thief until deep into Percy and company’s quest. If he is indeed at Montauk in this scene, this indicates that he has been keeping tabs on Percy since before he gets to camp, possibly even since he was much younger. While this would technically deviate from the source material, it would give Ares a far more deep-rooted history with his demigod nemesis than what is already on the page.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians premieres on Disney+ on December 20th.