Percy Jackson And The Olympians Star Walker Scobell Discusses Show’s Book Changes

December 31, 2025

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Warning! This article includes spoilers for Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2, episode 5.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians‘ titular star, Walker Scobell, has admitted how he really feels about the Disney+ adaptation’s story changes. While it’s widely agreed that Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a more faithful adaptation than the 2010 and 2013 movies starring Logan Lerman, the show still includes several minor (and a few major) changes from Rick Riordan’s original Percy Jackson novels.

Narrative changes in book adaptations are to be expected; novels and TV are vastly different forms of storytelling, after all, and as such have different pacing, character development, and storytelling needs. Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 1, for instance, included additional scenes with Percy’s father, Poseidon (Toby Stephens), and gave more depth to Camp Half-Blood’s traitor, Luke (Charlie Bushnell).

Season 2, similarly, also includes some intriguing changes from the books, like Clarisse’s (Dior Goodjohn) extended role. For book readers and long-time fans like Scobell, however, some of these changes can still be hard to accept, even if they do make sense within the context of the show. During an interview with Backstage, Scobell admitted that it can be difficult to “let it go.”

“It’s hard for me to let it go, because it’s been engraved in my head since I read it in third grade,” Scobell explained. Scobell is nearly 17 years old now, so he’s been a fan of Riordan’s work for roughly nine years. Nine years is a long time to become attached to a certain version of a story, so the actor’s hesitation is understandable.

Even so, Scobell also stated that he understood why some changes needed to be made, and that his attachment to the source material doesn’t change his dedication to the show. “I know that some things have to be cut; things change, and I think there’s not a lot I can do as an actor,” he said.

“I kind of just fully embrace whatever they’ve changed because joke’s on me if I don’t go all out and try to do my best every day,” Scobell finished.

One of the most noticeable changes from the books occurs in season 2, episode 5, “We Check In to C.C.’s Spa & Resort.” In the episode, Percy and Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries) are forced to confront the legendary sorceress Circe (Rosemarie DeWitt) and the terrifying Sirens.

In the second Percy Jackson book, Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, Circe and the Sirens represent two separate, dangerous encounters. In the show, they’re intertwined, forcing Percy and Annabeth to confront their fatal flaws and rely on each other more than ever before. Pacing-wise, combining the two threats allowed this leg of their quest to be covered in one episode.

It also made Circe a more well-rounded villain, much in the same way Disney+’s Percy Jackson changed Medusa’s story in season 1. Narrative and character changes like these keep adaptations like Percy Jackson and the Olympians fresh and exciting for readers and non-readers alike. As Scobell said, sometimes, it’s just about learning to embrace something new.

New episodes of Percy Jackson and the Olympians premiere Wednesdays on Disney+ and Hulu.