For the biggest part, Percy Jackson and the Olympians executive producer Jonathan Steinberg says the team behind the new Disney Plus show wanted to keep the story the same as it is in the books. But there's one big change the show makes in the third episode – and it changes Percy's view of the gods, while adding more nuance to how they fit into this world.
(Ed. remark: This post contains spoilers for episode 3 of Percy Jackson and the Olympiansand the same moment in the books.)
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In “We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium,” Percy (Walker Scobell) and his friends Annabeth (Leah Jeffries) and Grover (Aryan Simhadri) meet Medusa (Jessica Parker Kennedy), the legendary monster from Greek mythology with snakes for hair and a gaze. . that turns people to stone.
Instead of a slow reveal that the mysterious Aunt Em is actually Medusa and her garden statues are her victims, as in the book, the show's Medusa introduces herself outright. In fact, she presents herself as an ally and tells her story to Percy, as someone who was also left behind by Poseidon.
It's a sympathetic portrayal of Medusa that fits into the current cultural wave of reclaiming Greek mythology, especially stories about women. Madeline Millers Circe put a sympathetic spin on it Odyssey's vengeful witch; Supergiant Hades is one of many Greek mythology-inspired stories that turn the Hades-and-Persephone story from a kidnapping into a consensual romantic relationship. Percy Jackson and the Olympians's portrayal of Medusa is in keeping with such reinterpretations: in some versions of the mythology (and in the Percy Jackson mythos), Medusa is a former priestess of Athena, seduced by Poseidon and then left to face Athena's wrath. It's not a story that puts any of the gods in a particularly good light. Percy, who in both versions of the story slowly struggles with the brutality of the gods leaving their loved ones with children without so much as a note, is ready to sympathize with another person screwed over by the gods.
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“Specifically with Medusa it was talking to Rick (Riordan),” Steinberg says. “It was a realization that came up during our conversations about how much her story mirrored Sally's and how much a story about a woman who fell in love with a god and didn't have as great an experience with it as Sally did, how relatable that would be can be and really kind of dig into Medusa's experience and her headspace – what is she as a character more than what is she as just a monster.
It's not complete unlike the books, where Percy is still susceptible to Aunt Em's kind words, while Annabeth and Grover realize her true motives sooner. But the change in framing puts a different spin on who Medusa is and how she fits into Percy's own journey. It highlights Percy's increasing disillusionment with the way the gods handle their mortal affairs and frames his stance as almost anti-god (which isn't quite how he ultimately sees them after this scene in the book).
When he sends Medusa's head to the gods, it feels like an even greater act of defiance. But cutting off Medusa's head after she's depicted as someone just caught up in the jealousy of the gods takes a darker turn (though it's more in keeping with the way the show plays up the gritty and serious parts of the story than with Percy's sometimes crazy story in the books). It puts a more somber layer on the series and raises the stakes of what else Percy has to deal with. The gods are not only all-powerful entities with little interest in their descendants; their actions have had direct and disastrous consequences for innocent people, and they simply don't care. The show plays up this angle more than the books, meaning the final reveal may have more impact.
Steinberg says that these changes to Medusa came directly from Riordan himself, who was keen to tweak some aspects of his original story.
“Try to put yourself in his shoes: He wrote a book and then wrote so many more books and that universe exploded and he never got a second chance,” Steinberg says. “I think he enjoyed being able to think again about how he would rewrite the story if he did it again.”
The first three episodes of Percy Jackson and the Olympians are available now on Disney Plus, with new episodes on Wednesdays.