Percy Jackson: Rick Riordan Confirms Three More Greek Gods Are Coming

Percy Jackson and the Olympians continues to round out its supporting cast. Earlier this week, Hamilton star Lin-Manuel Miranda joined the ensemble as Hermes, the messenger godly parent of series antagonist Luke Castellan. Miranda’s Hermes joins Jason Mantzoukas’s Dionysus and Adam “Edge” Copeland’s Ares as the only Greek gods currently cast in the show. That said, another Olympian could be joining the ranks sooner rather than later.

Taking to his website, author and executive producer Rick Riordan shared that the god of the dead is currently on the Percy Jackson set.

“I had a lovely chat with the god Hades. Can’t tell you who it is yet, but he did such a great job,” Riordan wrote. “And wow, the Underworld set! Amazing stuff as usual from our art & design team.”

This confirms that Hades will in fact show face in Season 1, which aligns with the events of The Lightning Thief. In that book, Hades serves as a prominent player towards the end, as one of the final stops on Percy’s quest is in the Underworld itself. Hades was previously brought to live action life by Steve Coogan in the 2010 film adaptation of Riordan’s novel.

Alongside Hades, Riordan also confirmed that Poseidon and Zeus will show up in Season 1. As for who will portray The Big Three, it looks like it will be a trio that is unfamiliar with past Percy Jackson projects.

“The whole point of me being involved in the TV show is to make sure this is a completely different production and a fresh start for Percy Jackson,” Riordan wrote. “That means an entirely new cast putting their own spin on the characters, and it’s important for the cast and crew that they have a clean slate to work from. Because of that, there will be no crossover casting between the movies and the new TV show. This must be and will be its own thing.”

Even with a total of six gods set to show up so far, don’t expect to see a full Olympian council in the first eight episodes.

“I’d imagine everyone is curious about casting for the other Olympian gods. As you know from the books, if you’ve read the books, not all twelve Olympian gods appear in book one, so not all gods will appear in season one, nor have all gods been cast yet,” Riordan continued. “Actors have to be cast based on scripts, and scripts have to be written one season at a time.

“Aphrodite, for instance, probably won’t appear until season three, assuming we’re lucky enough to get a season three, so that casting is at least 2-3 years away. Apollo and Artemis, same thing. Hestia, Hera and Demeter probably wouldn’t appear until season five.”

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is currently in production and is expected to shoot until January 2023.