Percy Jackson and the Olympians is the upcoming series on Disney+, and the first trailer was unveiled at the D23 Expo 2022, in Anaheim. 

Walker Scobell of The Adam Project fame plays the titular character and the source material comes from Disney Hyperion’s best-selling book series by Rick Riordan. Percy is a 12-year-old modern demigod or half-blood, who’s accused by Zeus of stealing his lightning bolt. Percy must find it to restore order to Olympus.

The trailer begins with Scobell’s Percy saying what it means to be a half-blood. His message to those who might think they’re half-bloods isn’t one of encouragement. Instead, Percy warns them, saying “Look, I didn’t want to be a Half-Blood. Being a Half-Blood is dangerous. It’s scary. Most of the time it gets you killed. If you think you might be one of us, my advice is… turn away while you still can. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth. Try to live a normal life, because once you know what you are, they’ll sense it too, and they’ll come for you. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” 

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In the backdrop, scenes from the camp can be seen, including some of the training that goes on at camp half-blood.

The show was initially announced in 2020 and faced backlash for casting Leah Jeffries as Annabeth Chase. In the books, the character is white and Jeffries is black. However, Riordan defended the casting, saying she was the best actress for the part. 

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Riordan, in a lengthy post, slammed the racist attacks on the actor, saying “You refuse to believe me, the guy who wrote the books and created these characters, when I say that these actors are perfect for the roles because of the talent they bring and the way they used their auditions to expand, improve, and electrify the lines they were given. Once you see Leah as Annabeth, she will become exactly the way you imagine Annabeth, assuming you give her that chance, but you refuse to credit that this may be true. You are judging her appropriateness for this role solely and exclusively on how she looks. She is a Black girl playing someone who was described in the books as white. Friends, that is racism.”