Courtney B. Vance Thunders Up Recast As Zeus In 'Percy Jackson' Season 2
The Disney+ series based on the Rick Riordan books has also cast Zeus’s daughter and Percy’s half-brother
It has been four months of casting reveals for the second season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney+, and the latest fixes the most unfortunate conundrum. Courtney B. Vance has been cast as Zeus, god of the sky and king of the gods. The role was played in season 1 by Lance Reddick, who died in early March 2023 at the age of 60.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am to join the extraordinary cast of Percy Jackson and the Olympians!” Vance said in a statement. “There are few moments in an actor’s career when you can honestly say that you’re about to board a series that has such a devoted fan base filled with characters beloved around the world and is based on a wildly successful book series. I know that stepping into this role of Zeus will be a memorable experience and I’ll be giving my brother, Lance Reddick, who left us way too soon, a heavenly hug.”
“We are so excited and fortunate to have Courtney B. Vance join us as the King of Olympus — it is truly a gift from the gods!” said book series author and television series creator Rick Riordan. Shotz added, “The day we lost Lance Reddick, we lost an icon. Getting to work with this fierce and gentle talent in one of his last roles as Zeus in Percy Jackson and the Olympians was truly awe-inspiring. I felt so fortunate to watch this man stand tall on Mt. Olympus, but more importantly I felt lucky to be able to call him a friend. Finding someone to step into this role going forward was not an easy task, but when icon Courtney B. Vance answered the call, we knew the Gods were listening. This legend of cinema not only wanted to honor the books, but wanted to honor Lance’s legacy. We can’t wait for you all to see him take the throne.”
Vance is a Emmy winner for Guest Actor in a Drama Series on HBO’s Lovecraft Country and Lead Actor in a Limited Series/Movie as attorney Johnnie Cochran in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. He also starred on the first five seasons of Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver. His series 61st Street started as an AMC series but they wrote it off and scrapped airing its already produced second season. The CW picked the series up, airing the second season this past summer. He also appeared in FX’s Grotesquerie. His film roles include The Hunt for Red October, The Mummy, Isle of Dogs, Dangerous Minds, and Showtime’s Heist 88. He will be starring as Cobra Bubbles in Disney’s live action Lilo & Stitch remake, which opens on May 23, 2025.
Before Zeus was officially recast, the crew found his daughter, Thalia Grace. She will be played by Tamara Smart in a recurring guest role. Thalia is described as “the Demigod daughter of Zeus who made her last stand to protect her friends at the edge of Camp Half-Blood. Rather than let her die, Zeus transformed her into a tree that anchors the force field that protects camp. Tough and prickly, with a rebel/punk sensibility, Thalia is fiercely loyal to her friends and distrustful of her father’s world.” Riordan called Thalia one of the most important characters in the franchise, so he knew how crucial the casting would be. As he described “Thalia is a powerful warrior, a fiercely loyal friend, and a demigod rebel with a very ‘punk’ / ‘rage-against-the-machine’ sensibility. As soon as we saw Tamara Smart play this role, we knew we had found our daughter of Zeus. She was, no pun intended, electric. Tamara puts the ‘grace’ in Thalia Grace!”
Thalia is something of a familiar role to Smart, as she played the younger version of Jade Wesker, the daughter of Albert Wesker in Netflix’s Resident Evil series, who was played by Reddick. When her casting was announced, she posted on Instagram a picture of the two of them together, captioned “For you”. Her other credits include The Worst Witch, and films like Artemis Fowl and A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting, and was Louise Fulci in the Carnival of Doom season of Are You Afraid of the Dark? from 2019.
The first casting announcement of the season came at San Diego Comic-Con, when Riordan revealed through video message that Daniel Diemer will play Percy’s cyclops half-brother Tyson. As some of you may know, in Sea of Monsters we meet an important new character. He’s shy, awkward and endearing,” Riordan said in a video message. “His enthusiasm and talent bring a whole new dimension to Tyson.” Diemer responded “Thank you so much, Rick, for the warm welcome. I’m thrilled and honored to step into the universe of Percy Jackson. I’ve been a fan of the books since I was 10 years old. I can’t wait to bring Tyson to life and introduce him to you all.” His previous credits include The Midnight Club.
The second season of Percy Jackson is currently in production for a 2025 premiere. It will appropriately adapt The Sea of Monsters, the second book of Riordan’s series. The official logline reads that Percy “returns to Camp Half-Blood one year later to find his world turned upside down. His friendship with Annabeth is changing, he learns he has a cyclops for a brother, Grover has gone missing and camp is under siege from the forces of Kronos. Percy’s journey to set things right will take him off the map and into the deadly Sea of Monsters, where a secret fate awaits the son of Poseidon.”
The series stars Walker Scobell as Percy, Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth, Aryan Simhadri as Grover, Virginia Kull, and Adam Copeland. Riordan serves as co-creator alongside Jonathan E. Steinberg, who serves as co-showrunner with Shotz. The trio are executive producers with Riordan’s wife Rebecca; Craig Silverstein; The Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell and D.J. Goldberg, Bert Salke, James Bobin, Jim Rowe, Jason Ensler, Sarah Watson and Albert Kim, who moves over from Avatar: The Last Airbender as Joe Tracz moves to One Piece. The series is produced by Disney Branded Television and 20th Television.
