Percy Jackson & the Olympians Could Be Disney’s Best MCU Replacement

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While Disney is famous for the hugely successful Marvel Cinematic Universe, it has a strong contender to attract viewers looking for something different. The series, which launched on Disney+ in 2023, is based on Rick Riordan’s popular book, The Lightning Thief. It’s a successful adaptation that addresses criticisms of previous movie versions, and could become a major franchise in its own right.

Good news for fans! The series returns on Disney+ December 10th with a two-episode premiere. This season adapts Rick Riordan’s Sea of Monsters and expands the world of mythology, gods, and demigods. But this next chapter of Percy Jackson is more than just a book adaptation – it has the potential to launch a major cinematic universe for Disney, and the existing books offer a clear path for building a larger franchise.

Percy Jackson Could Be Disney’s Next Cinematic Universe

Disney’s new series, Percy Jackson & the Olympians, could become their next big hit, much like Iron Man was for Marvel in 2008. Both shows were made with care and focused on telling a complete story in their first season, while also building the foundation for a much larger universe based on popular books.

Similar to how Iron Man successfully launched its franchise, the first season of Percy Jackson has captivated fans of the book series and demonstrated strong potential for future installments. With a 91% critic score and 79% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, the show has received much better reviews than the previous Percy Jackson movies. Surprisingly, it also became Disney+’s most popular original series in 2024, beating out shows from well-established franchises like Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The show’s strong start gave Disney enough confidence to order at least two more seasons, and there’s plenty of potential to build on this popular fantasy world.

Rick Riordan’s books have plenty of material for a full series, and Disney could even expand beyond five seasons if they choose. The initial five books are just the start; they introduce a vast world filled with characters from many different mythologies.

The series is best known for its Greek mythology focus, starting with the original five Percy Jackson & the Olympians books. It later grew to include the five-book Heroes of Olympus series, which introduced Roman gods and a new demigod camp called Camp Jupiter.

Rick Riordan later broadened his storytelling to focus on the gods directly with Trials of Apollo, a five-book series following the adventures of Apollo after Zeus punishes him by turning him into a mortal on Earth. Most recently, Riordan has been adding to the original Percy Jackson series with a new trilogy set before the events of Trials of Apollo.

There’s enough story in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians books for eighteen seasons of TV, and that’s not even the full extent of what Disney could do with this new series.

In addition to his popular Percy Jackson series, Rick Riordan has built a larger fictional world drawing on the myths of various ancient cultures. Following his exploration of Greek and Roman gods, he introduced the world of Egyptian mythology in The Kane Chronicles.

These stories are set in the same world as the Percy Jackson books, where Egyptian gods exist alongside Greek and Roman gods. The Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series brought Norse mythology into this shared universe. Rick Riordan has also collaborated with other writers on standalone stories to continue expanding this world.

If Disney fully commits to this world of mythology, they have a wealth of stories to tell through many different spin-off shows, each focusing on various groups of ancient gods and their heroic offspring. This could become Disney+’s most popular franchise ever, and the early success of Percy Jackson demonstrates that viewers are eager for this type of storytelling – and it looks like Disney is already moving in that direction.

What Is Rick Riordan’s Mystery Series?

While discussing the upcoming second season of Percy Jackson & the Olympians, author Rick Riordan revealed he’s involved in another, currently unannounced, project alongside his work on seasons 2 and 3 of Percy Jackson. He offered this as a hint about the potential expansion of the franchise.

Fans eager for more adaptations of Rick Riordan’s stories have reason to be thrilled! There’s a possibility that Riordan and Disney are already planning a sequel series to Percy Jackson, potentially based on The Heroes of Olympus, and picking up the story after a fifth season of Percy Jackson.

Even though a new series based on Heroes of Olympus feels distant, Disney is likely starting to plan for it now. With Season 3 of Percy Jackson already in production, it appears the show aims for a new season each year.

If the current plan holds, the Percy Jackson series could finish adapting Rick Riordan’s original books by 2028. Disney should start preparing for a sequel now by planning how to tell the next story, finalizing deals with the current cast, and beginning the search for new actors to join them.

Although a series based on Heroes of Olympus is possible, it appears more probable that another book series is being considered for adaptation. The Kane Chronicles is a strong contender, as Netflix previously planned a movie trilogy based on the books, but unfortunately cancelled the project in 2024.

Now that 20th Century Television owns the rights again, Disney+ is free to create a series based on the Egyptian trilogy. Another option is to develop a series based on Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, which has stronger ties to the Percy Jackson books and might be a more natural continuation of Disney+’s existing franchise.

Do Rick Riordan’s Series Ever Have an Avengers-level Crossover?

Rick Riordan has spent years creating a detailed and interconnected world in his books, and now Disney+ is bringing it to the screen. This naturally leads fans to ask if characters and storylines from his different series will ever come together, similar to how Marvel’s Avengers movies combine heroes. So far, Riordan’s books haven’t featured crossovers on that large scale.

Over the years, the two series have subtly connected in a few ways. Most notably, The Kane Chronicles and Percy Jackson collaborated on a short story collection called Demigods & Magicians. This miniseries featured three stories where characters from both series teamed up.

In Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, the main character is established as Annabeth Chase’s cousin. Annabeth shows up as a guest character throughout the series, and Percy Jackson makes a quick appearance in one of the books.

Rick Riordan’s stories – and now the Disney+ shows based on them – all share the same world of mythology and monsters, leaving open the possibility for major crossovers. Riordan has confirmed this shared universe, and with the right storyline and characters, Disney could create a new franchise as popular as the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The new season of Percy Jackson & the Olympians begins December 10th with the first two episodes, streaming on Disney+.

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2025-11-29 21:15