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Percy Jackson Cast Discusses Season 2 Themes, Deimer's Tyson & More

Percy Jackson and the Olympians stars Scobell, Jeffries, Simhadri, Goodjohn, Bushnell, and Diemer discussed Season 2 themes, Tyson, and more.

When Percy Jackson and the Olympians premiered on Disney+ on December 2023, any concerns about how it would turn out for fans of the Rick Riordan novels following the mixed reaction of the 20th Century theatrical adaptations were put to rest, this time led by Walker Scobell who plays the title character along with Leah Sava Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri as his friends in fellow demigod Annabeth Chase (daughter of Athena), and the satyr, Grover Underwood, respectively, as the core to drive the series. Along the way, the son of Poseidon develops an adversarial relationship with Clarisse La Rue (Dior Goodjohn), daughter of Ares, and Luke Castellan (Charlie Bushnell), son of Hermes, who worked with the trio before revealing his true allegiance to Kronos (Nick Boraine).

As we enter season two, Percy returns to Camp Half-Blood a year later to find out that it's under threat from Kronos, one of his best friends is missing, and he must venture into the Sea of Monsters to retrieve the legendary Golden Fleece. Helping him along the way is Tyson (Daniel Diemer), a cyclops trying to fit in the group, holding back a chip on his shoulder, battling prejudice along the way. Scobell, Jeffries, Simhadri, Goodjohn, Diemer, and Bushnell spoke to Bleeding Cool about the challenges ahead for their respective characters and bringing Diemer's Tyson into the fold.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Cast on Season Two, Tyson, Showrunners, and More

Trust is a big theme this season of Percy Jackson. What's it like to navigate through that among your characters?

Scobell: At least with Percy and Annabeth, that's the first big problem that they run into. She's already keeping things from him, then Annabeth tells him how she feels, and then she has another big thing she's keeping from him. I'm starting to realize the problem's probably just Annabeth.

Goodjohn: Annabeth be lying.

Bushnell: I heard.

Scobell: No, she does all this to protect me and doesn't want to hurt Percy's feelings. I don't know. I guess you're right. This is a season of trust, gaining, and losing it.

Goodjohn: Yeah, for sure, for everyone. [To Bushnell] You're putting your trust in Kronos, who's someone that is like it's so out of left field for any demigod to do that.

Bushnell: Yeah, and just with Percy and Annabeth, things I think did not go as planned at the end of season one when [Luke] took Percy out to the woods, and he thought that was going down entirely differently, and then Annabeth comes in and sees everything, seeing Luke about to kill Percy. I think he knows that he's definitely lost some trust there, and especially in the first half of season two, we see him try and get that trust back a little bit, but it might be too far gone.

How does it feel to have Daniel's Tyson thrown into the mix now within the group?

Goodjohn: With Daniel, when it comes to his Tyson?

Scobell: Fit right in.

Bushnell: Yeah.

Goodjohn: Perfect.

Bushnell: Like, I'm right off the bat, Daniel felt like he was part of the family, and he's incredible as Tyson.

Goodjohn: He's so good.

Bushnell: Cannot ask for a better Tyson.

Goodjohn: Giving Tyson this layer of realism that I didn't know was possible. I always saw Tyson as like this, kind of clumsy, lovable Cyclops. Tyson, if you think about it, he goes through some real stuff. He's really been through it, and at his age, like he's only eight, isn't he? For Daniel to be able to bring that in but keep the innocence of Tyson, and the lovable aspect of him, was quite impressive.

Scobell and Bushnell: Yeah.

Leah, did you and Walker hang out with Daniel to build chemistry among your characters, like Annabeth, Percy, and Tyson, before filming the new season?

Simhadri: Is that who you guys replaced me with? Is that why you were always saying you were busy?

Jeffries: No, I swear. This is funny because we didn't. Here's my thing: the reason is that we already connected so quickly. Even at the chemistry read when we had first all connected, I already knew, "Oh, okay. I know exactly who it should be and all that." Everyone else did amazing, but with Daniel, also, if anyone cares about this part. Many months before then, when the three of us came in, we went into the office where they do all the writing, and they showed us, "This is how the eye will look for Tyson in the second season." I told him, "I don't know who that guy is, but whoever this is standing in, he needs to play Tyson because he looks just like him." I found out that it was Daniel who did it, which is great. He comes in, does the audition, and that's what really made it in the end.

Daniel, aside from the script, did you do anything additional to prep for the role of Tyson, aside from reading Rick's books?

Diemer: Mostly on the physical aspects of creating the character, I wanted the walk, the way he ran, the way he thought to be specific to him, trying to figure out everything with the depth perception, and how that impacts how he goes about everything. Other than that, the emotional digging in I do with every single character, [it's a] very similar [process]. Luckily, we got a month to prep with these guys, which is the most rehearsal I've ever had in my life for any project, so that was extremely convenient [laughs]. We had a great acting coach, and he was, funnily enough, my first acting coach. To work with him again on this project that's so special was pretty cool.

Season two of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which also stars Glynn Turman, Jason Mantzoukas, Megan Mullally, Timm Sharp, Kevin Chacón, and Adam Copeland, premieres its first two episodes on December 10th on Disney+ with new episodes on Wednesdays through January 21st, 2026.

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