"Percy Jackson" Cast & Creators Reflect on the Season 2 Finale and Look Ahead to Season 3
With the Season 2 finale of Percy Jackson and the Olympians now streaming on Disney+, the cast and creative team took a break from filming Season 3 for a TCA press conference, diving into the making of the climactic episode and teasing what’s already underway for Season 3. Executive producer Dan Shotz shared that the group returned to filming almost immediately after their global promotional tour wrapped, describing the pace as “pretty hardcore” but also energizing. As he put it, “The reception’s been amazing… we’re just really enjoying the ride.”
Walker Scobell laughed that exhaustion has become part of the rhythm of filming. “Everyone’s so tired this last month, because it’s just, like, all action, all everything,” he said, noting how scattered the cast has been while episodes were airing. “Dior was in Europe, I was in New York… everyone’s everywhere.”
Discussing the finale’s post-credits scene, executive producer Craig Silverstein revealed that the moment was originally filmed for Episode 5 (“We Check In to C.C.'s Spa and Resort”). “That piece was sort of floating out there,” he explained, calling it the perfect way to close the season with a glimpse at the larger mythological world. Scobell agreed, adding that he loved how it conveyed that “the world just goes on… this is just a challenge for another person now.”
Season 2 places Percy in a deeper struggle over fate, prophecy, and the morality of Olympus. Silverstein said the writers grounded that arc in Percy’s fear of who he might become. “He’s afraid of himself and what he might do,” he said, especially as Luke argues that the Olympians are the true villains. “There’s good and evil, and then there’s power and who doesn’t have power—and those things get mixed up.”
Grover spends much of the season separated from Percy and Annabeth, but through Aryan Simhadri’s hosting duties on the Official Podcast, fans got to see some of the behind-the-scenes fun, like when Walker objected to Aleks Paunovic’s (Polyphemus) in-character lunchtime proposal of Aryan. While he may have been separated from Percy and Annabeth on screen, behind the scenes, Simhadri remained an integral part of the show.
Simhadri became a camera trainee. “It was the first time I’ve ever felt like I’ve had a real job,” he laughed, remembering how he placed actors’ marks and shadowed crew members. Dior Goodjohn also shadowed the camera and producing teams, calling the experience eye-opening. “You’re one of the most important parts, but also one of the least important parts of making something this big,” she said. “Everyone is giving everything—on both sides of the camera.”
The cast also reflected on welcoming Courtney B. Vance as Zeus following the passing of Lance Reddick. Simhadri remembered Vance sending a heartfelt email to the entire crew on his first day, expressing gratitude and respect for stepping into the role. Shotz added that the production held a moment of silence in Reddick’s honor, both on set and in spirit throughout the season. “We miss him so terribly,” Shotz said, noting that Reddick’s wife Stephanie shared a meaningful moment with Vance at the premiere. Goodjohn said her approval “was the biggest confirmation” that the transition was handled with care.
Reflecting on how they’ve evolved over two seasons, Scobell said the physical demands of the role have intensified. “Everything’s getting amped up,” he shared, crediting the stunt team for mentoring him through increasingly complex action sequences.
Goodjohn said she sees major personal growth when she watches her own performance across Season 2. “Where I’m at right now as an actor is worlds different than where I was when I started,” she said, praising acting coach Andrew McIlroy and the writing team for giving her the space to evolve. Simhadri added that the show has made him “a more rounded person,” reflecting on how he initially worried more about fitting in than performing. “More than anything, the show has given me permission to… just act.”
The finale’s main battle proved to be both technically complex and narratively essential. Silverstein said one of its most important beats came from a suggestion Scobell made on set, when Luke pivots the fight from a duel to a kill-or-be-killed clash. “Percy was not fighting to kill Luke,” Silverstein explained. “And now he knows Luke will just kill him going into Season 3.”
The cast also recalled the physical challenge of filming the sequence in cold, muddy conditions. “That entire sequence took place in essentially just mud,” Simhadri recalled. “That was the roughest part for me, mostly because I’m lying down in it.”
Addressing one of the finale’s biggest deviations from the source material, Silverstein said Rick Riordan fully supported the decision. “The goal was to amp up the stakes,” he explained, giving Thalia clearer motivation and reinforcing the tension of whether she will become Percy’s “best friend or worst enemy.” Seeing that intention, Silverstein said, “Rick saw that pretty quickly.”
The cast and creative team are hard at work filming Season 3 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which is set to debut by the end of 2026. With two months of filming left, The Titan's Curse will finally leap from Rick Riordan’s pages onto the screen for the first time ever. Disney+ has captured lightning in a bottle with this cast and creative team, and it would take an act of gods to stop them now.