Walker Scobell Cast As Percy Jackson In New Disney+ Series

Demigods, get ready to meet our Percy Jackson!

Following Logan Lerman’s Percy Jackson films, fans have been dying for a new adaptation of the best-selling book series on the heroic demigod. Now, author Rick Riordan has taken to his website to reveal the newest actor taking on the titular role in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians TV series: 13 year-old The Adam Project star Walker Scobell.

“Walker Scobell is an incredibly talented young man who blew us away with his audition tapes for the role of Percy. Many of you recently discovered how great Walker is when you watched his movie The Adam Project, in which Walker lit up the screen as a younger version of Ryan Reynolds’ character. We were fortunate enough to audition Walker months before that movie came out, but the film only confirmed what we already knew about his talent. It was obvious to me and the rest of the team that Walker had the perfect mix of comedic timing, sweetness, rebelliousness, snark, and heroism to embody our hero Percy Jackson,” wrote Riordan. “Aside from being a rising star, Walker is also a super-fan of the books, having read everything through The Trials of Apollo. He already owns a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt.”

The first season will focus on the first book of the series The Lightning Thief, about a kid named Percy Jackson who learns he is really the demigod son of Greek God Poseidon. As he comes into his abilities, he is accused of stealing Zeus’ master lighting bolt and must go on a wild adventure to clear his name. Riordan shared they’ve been holding onto Scobell’s casting since January 28, which was also around the same time they announced the show had received a full series order. The author also confirmed that casting announcements for both Annabeth and Grover will be coming soon.

Disney+’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series goes into production this summer, with author Riordan playing a big role in the writing process.