Percy Jackson season 2 will recast Zeus following Lance Reddick's death

31 January 2024, 12:34

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By Sam Prance

The showrunners behind Percy Jackson have opened up about the future of Zeus in the Disney+ series.

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Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 1 ends with Lance Reddick's final television performance as Zeus and the season finale is dedicated to the beloved late actor. Now, the Percy team have revealed how they will approach Zeus in season 2.

Fans of Percy Jackson will already know that Zeus plays a huge role in the series. Throughout the first book, Percy attempts to avoid Zeus' wrath by finding his lightning bolt and returning it to him. At the end of season 1 of the Disney+ adaptation, Percy (Walker Scobell) confronts Zeus (Lance Reddick) and it's one of the standout scenes of the entire show.

Zeus actually pops up in every Percy novel so fans were excited to see Lance portray him in multiple seasons. However, in March 2023, Lance tragically passed away at the age of 60. As a result, the role of Zeus will need to be recast and now Percy Jackson showrunners Jon Steinberg and Dan Shotz have explained how they intend to do it.

Will Zeus be in Percy Jackson season 2?

Percy Jackson season 2 will recast Zeus following Lance Reddick's death. Picture: Disney+

Talking to Variety about the future of Zeus as a character in the show, Jon Steinberg said: "The way we tried to approach it in the past is that you are both trying to honour his performance and the character that he helped define and create, and also to make space for someone new to do the same thing, and to have some room for their voice to come through as well."

He continued to explain: "It’s difficult to have two different human beings inhabit the same character. But life happens, and sometimes that’s where you are. Fortunately, we have a little bit of time. Even once the process gets started, we don’t see Zeus again for a little bit, so we’ll have a minute to try to find the right fit."

However, Jon has also made clear that it will be hard to find anyone who brings what Lance brought to the role. He said: "I think his mark on that role will be felt with whoever steps into his shoes. It’s a tall order for anybody to try to live up to the performance of somebody else."

He ended by saying: "I don’t think anybody’s looking forward to that, to be honest, but we’ll do the best we can to make sure that you feel him in whatever that character is moving forward."

Lance Reddick, Walker Scobell and Toby Stephens. Picture: Disney+

Dan also joined in by saying: "What’s nice about what’s gonna happen this week is that Lance Reddick will be immortalised as Zeus. Whatever takes place down the road, we can deal with."

In other words, Zeus will be recast in season 2 but no one has been chosen yet and, whoever they find to fill the role will have to honour Lance's work.

Bookmark this page and we'll update you as soon as season 2 casting details are revealed.