Lin-Manuel Miranda has signed on to play Hermes in the upcoming Disney Plus series Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Based on the bestselling YA book series by Rick Riordan, the series follows 12-year-old demigod Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell) - who is accused by Zeus of stealing his lightning bolt. Percy is accompanied by his two best friends, Annabeth Chase (Leah Sava Jeffries), the daughter of the goddess Athena, and Grover Underwood (Aryan Simhadri), a satyr posing as a 12-year-old boy.
The cast also includes Virginia Kull, Glynn Turman, Jason Mantzoukas, Megan Mullally, Timm Sharp, Adam Copeland, Suzanne Cryer, and Jessica Parker Kennedy.
The book series was previously adapted into two films, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief in 2010, and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters in 2013. Both films starred Logan Lerman as the titular hero. The TV series promises to be a more faithful adaptation of the books.
Lin-Manuel Miranda created and starred in Hamilton, a hip-hop historical musical that broke records at both the Broadway box office and Billboard charts. He recently directed the musical biopic Tick, Tick...Boom! starring Andrew Garfield, composed the soundtrack for Disney's Encanto, and produced a movie adaptation of his musical In the Heights.
Percy Jackson & the Olympians is helmed by Jonathan E. Steinberg (Jericho, Human Target) and Dan Shotz (See, Black Sails), with the first episode set to be directed by James Bobin (Da Ali G Show, Flight of the Conchords). The eight-episode first season is scheduled to premiere on Disney Plus in 2024.
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