Percy Jackson: Rick Riordan Teases “Great Scenes” With Key Character

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is in the home stretch. The serialized adaptation of Rick Riordan’s best-selling novels kicked off production in June 2022, shooting its inaugural eight episodes over the course of eight months. This first season will chronicle the events of The Lightning Thief, the first of Riordan’s five Percy Jackson novels. While that book was adapted once before for the 2010 film of the same name, a number of key chapters, events, and characters were left on the cutting room floor. Among those axed roles was Ares, the Greek god of war, who serves as the novel’s primary antagonist.

History will not repeat itself on Disney+, as former WWE Champion Adam “Edge” Copeland was cast as Ares this past fall. Riordan emphasized his enthusiasm of the casting shortly after it was announced, noting that Edge personifies the aura that he created for Ares in the books.

Riordan’s praise for Edge continued on Tuesday, as he applauded the wrestler-turned-actor’s recent scenes.

“I’m thinking about this because of some great scenes Adam Copeland has filmed for us recently as Ares, the god of war,” Riordan wrote on mastodon. “As they used to say on the monster truck rally commercials of my youth: ‘You can pay for the whole seat, but you’ll only need the Edge!’”

These “great scenes” are likely battle scenes between Ares and Percy Jackson, as titular star Walker Scobell confirmed that his clash with the god of war would be shot this month.

“That’s when we film all the cool stuff like the Ares fight,” Scobell said of his January production schedule. “And then I wrap up.”

While he is not the most powerful of the 12 Olympians, Ares has the most pronounced role of any of the Greek gods in The Lightning Thief. First popping up in Chapter 15, Ares sends Percy and company on a side quest during their mission to retrieve Zeus’s stolen master bolt. The god of war’s biggest moments come in Chapter 20, when he stands opposite the son of Poseidon.

As of this writing, Percy Jackson has only been greenlit for one season. If it realizes its full potential, Edge could have a busy decade ahead of himself. He makes brief appearances in The Sea of Monsters, The Titan’s Curse, and The Last Olympian, and shows face in four of the five Heroes of Olympus books.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians wraps production this month.