Returning to Camp Half-Blood – New Season 3 Details From SDCC

Confirmed Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 3 is coming to Disney+ November 20th. This date has been floating around in speculation for a while but it’s so great to have it confirmed. This was a first teaser at the tension in this season; Percy holding up a huge world, fans of Greek Mythology and of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians books will recognize this as the titan Atlas’s curse, to hold the weight of the world.

As a note: I will do my best to not spoil anything about the new series for those who watch the show but haven’t read the books. I will only be mentioning topics that were discussed in the panel. This is great new territory for the series as we’re onto a book that has never been adapted before. Whole new territory and it sounds like we’re in for a ride.

Welcome Half-Bloods!

Returning cast members are Walker Scobell (Percy Jackson), Aryan Simhadri (Grover Underwood), Leah Sava-Jefferies (Annabeth Chase), Charlie Bushnell (Luke Castellan) and back as a series regular Tamara Smart as Thalia Grace. All but Leah were present at this year’s SDCC, Leah was only absent due to the filming schedule of The Cheetah Girls: Next Gen but don’t worry Walker made sure to bring a cardboard cut out of her face so she was in on all things Titan’s Curse. And Moderator Juju Green made a nod and a wink to her absence being accurate to the Titan’s Curse – if you know you know. Joining our returning campers are two new demigods Nico (Levi Chrisopulos) Di Angelo and Bianca Di Angelo (Olive Abercrombie), the children of Hades.

Welcome to THE GODS?

The Gods are here! Returning as the Godly parents of our heroes is Courtney B. Vance as Zeus who took over the role after the sudden passing of Lance Reddick in 2023. Andra Day is back as the goddess of wisdom Athena and her rival Poseidon is again played by Toby Stephens. Jason Manzoukas is also back as everyone’s favorite Camp Director, Dionysus.

There’s also some new Gods waiting to make their debut appearance in the series. Dafne Keen joins the cast of Gods as Artemis the goddess of the hunt. Hubert Smielecki will be her twin brother Apollo, the god of music and the arts. Ming-Na Wen is Hera, Queen of Olympus and goddess of women, marriage and family. Hera is known in the world of Greek Myths and Percy Jackson, to not be the kindest to Zeus’s demigod children. Kate Mckinnon will be our Aphrodite goddess of love and beauty. Jennifer Beals as Demeter, the goddess of the seasons and agriculture.

Coming this Winter

With the release date confirmed we can look forward to returning to the world of Percy Jackson this November. The Titan’s Curse takes place during winter break. There are half-bloods who live at camp all year round often if they have nowhere safe to go home to. With Chiron (Glynn Turman) and Mr. D watching over the camp, nothing can go wrong. Right?

What’s Happening in Season 3 The Titan’s Curse

Walker (Percy Jackson) revealed that he thinks this is the most book accurate series so far. Executive Producers Craig Silverstein and Dan Shotz were there to say every season has been book accurate. The books are always open through every stage of production and they’re excited to get to expand outside of the Percy-central point-of-view we get from the books. The executive producers go on to discuss how it’s great to dive into Annabeth’s life away from camp. So we might see more of Annabeth’s family, her dad and step-mother also joining us on the screen. And with Jesse L. Martin confirmed as Frederick Chase, I think it’s safe to say we’ll get that this season.

Overall, the cast gave away very little. There was mention of some famous settings that fans will recognize from The Titan’s Curse book, but Walker, Aryan and Charlie presented a masterclass to newer cast members of how to not give away this season’s secrets. Season 3’s tag line was seen around SDCC and then in the teaser revealing the release date “A titan’s curse, a hero’s destiny”, a small reference to the prophecy for the Titan’s Curse book and likely the new season too.

The Big Bad of Season 3

Kronos (Nick Boraine) and his army is still looming with Luke Castellan (Charlie Bushnell) at the forefront. As Kronos’s forces organize, new foes who have a bone to pick with the Gods are coming to join the fight. The Titan in question this season is Altas, who was cursed to carry the world by the gods. Atlas will be played by Holt McCallaney.

Returning as part of Luke’s army is Alison Simms (Beatrice Kitsos) and Chris Rodriguez (Kevin Chacon). With the TV show giving the writers and Rick Riordan the chance to tell more stories outside of Percy’s; I look forward to seeing the inner workings of Kronos’s Army.

Behind the scenes stories

Levi Christopulos (Nico di Angelo) was asked what it was like walking into Camp Half-Blood for the first time. Levi shares that he was nervous and was telling himself to be calm and be himself. But executive producer Craig Silverstein revealed that Levi stumped Jason Manzoukas while improv-ing in a scene. Walker confirmed that Levi is the only person in four years of Percy Jackson production who has acchieved this.

Aryan Simhadri ended up interning in the costume department during a quiet day for him on set. He revealed that he was terrible and showed so much appreciation for everything the costume department do. During a scene, Manzoukas in his Dionysus Hawaiian shirt, a button came off and everyone turned to Aryan to reattach the button. Aryan said it took him 45 minutes to sew the button back on, which is a 2 minute or less job for any of the actual costume team. Love the cast pitching in in other disciplines on set when they need a hand and then showing so much admiration for those skilled members of the team.

Walker shared that going into Season 3 he’s no longer thinking about how to be Percy but focusing on telling the story. He goes on to reference accidental details he keeps adding to Percy’s character and the story through trying to tell the story better. Fans only make a lot of jokes about Rick Riordan shaking his books and Walker Scobell as Percy fell out, so I’m sure his Percy portrayal will be loved.