There's no denying that Walker Scobell is enjoying playing the title character in Disney+'s series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which just aired its Season 2 finale on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026.
A third season was quickly green-lit by Disney+ in March 2025, and it will premiere later in 2026, meaning Scobell and Co. will, at the very least, get to adapt the third book in Rick Riordan's iconic series, The Titan's Curse.
Ideally, Scobell wants to continue playing the role long enough to portray Percy in adaptations of Riordan's Heroes of Olympus and the Senior Year Adventures.
However, that comes with a caveat: Scobell wants to establish himself outside of the Percy Jackson universe first. “I would love to,” said Scobell about adapting Heroes of Olympus and the Senior Year Adventures, continuing, “I'd love to find out if I could have a career outside of it first.”
He quickly quipped, “And if I can't, then I'd love to just go right back,” with a laugh. His joke should be taken exactly as such, but Scobell appears aware of actors and actresses stuck in the franchise void (i.e. Tom Holland or, perhaps even more comparable, Daniel Radcliffe).
Even if it happens, adaptations of the Heroes of Olympus and Senior Year Adventures books are years away. In the meantime, Scobell is looking ahead to Season 3 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. He's currently reading The Battle of the Labyrinth with the hope of adapting it.
The physical toll of playing Percy Jackson
As a devout reader of the Percy Jackson books, Scobell is still pinching himself that he gets to play the character. Before landing the role, Scobell would imagine the pages coming to life and living in Percy's shoes. Now, he does that.
“You know the feeling when you're reading or watching something, and you're like, Ugh, I wish I was part of this world? Like, I wish I could go there and do those things? It's weird because I've always felt that way about Percy Jackson, and when I pick it back up and I'm reading it, I feel the same way. And then I'm like, Wait, I get to do that, and it's the most exciting feeling ever because you get to go and do these things, like, this is your life. It's a weird feeling.”
Now, just because it's a dream come true doesn't mean there aren't nightmares. Scobell, 17, has been enduring the physical toll a role such as playing Percy Jackson entails.
“I wouldn't say it's better [than imagined], only because in some ways, it's really cool for me — Oh my God, I get to do this awesome fight that Percy does; I get to fight all these people and do all these things — but then it's lunchtime and my back hurts, and I'm like, Wow. I'm getting older. I can feel it,” Scobell admitted.
He conceded that “it's still exciting,” but he feels what his character does. Watching it back, he won't forget “how bad my hip hurt” or a twisted ankle suffered while filming the show.
A more action-packed Season 2
Perhaps this is partially due to Season 2 — an adaptation of Sea of Monsters — being more action-packed than the first. Scobell said Season 2 was “definitely” more physically demanding than the first.
Given that Season 1 laid the groundwork for the second, the new season was able to get off the ground running. This lent itself well to having more action.
“I think [in] Season 1, we had to explain this entire world — this world is completely new to people that haven't watched the movies or read the books. There was a lot of time spent just kind of explaining everything. In Season 2, it's easier because we can just pick up where we left off. There wasn't a ton of explaining to do, which made more room for action and adventure,” he explained.
His honest thoughts on the Sea of Monsters movie?
Over 12 years ago, 20th Century Fox made The Sea of Monsters, their second movie adaptation of a Percy Jackson book after The Lightning Thief, released more than three years earlier.
Critics were harsh on the Sea of Monsters movie, as it holds a 42% score from them on Rotten Tomatoes. Not that The Lightning Thief was received that much better, holding a 48% score.
Still, as a fan of the books, Scobell appreciates aspects of them, namely Logan Lerman, whose shoes he had to fill in Disney+'s Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
“I think he did a perfect job,” Scobell said of Lerman, continuing, “and I think it's hard to top that. Also, I mean, look at the guy — I can't follow him up. You see how handsome he is? [It was] so difficult [to follow up].”
The biggest problem
Scobell also had his own criticisms of Sea of Monsters. His biggest criticism was of the campers, or lack thereof. Scobell likes stories where he feels seen. Unfortunately, the Sea of Monsters movie didn't resonate with Scobell in that respect.
“I thought they had a really interesting take on the world of Percy Jackson, only because they didn't have as much time to explain everything as we did,” he acknowledged. “I didn't see a lot of young campers, so I think when I was younger, I loved watching shows and movies where there [were] people my age, and I think reading Percy Jackson, the reason why I got so into it, and so many people loved it was because he was a kid, you know?”
Does Walker Scobell feel pressure to adapt all of the Percy Jackson books before he's too old?
Ironically, Scobell is around the age Lerman was when filming The Lightning Thief. Luckily, Scobell has a leg up on Lerman, who aged out of his teenage character by the time Sea of Monsters was released.
Scobell is “definitely” feeling a sense of urgency when it comes to making seasons of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. So far, they've released two seasons, and they are filming a third. However, there are still two more books to adapt: The Battle of the Labyrinth and The Last Olympian.
He is aware of how much he has grown between the first two seasons. At 17, puberty can be unpredictable. So, hopefully, Disney+ continues rolling into production as soon as they can.
“I got really worried between Season 1 and 2 because I knew I grew a lot,” Scobell confessed. “It had been a second, and I was worried. I wanted to get it right; I wanted to be that age and think I ended up being a little bit older. But I think it kind of worked out, especially because of how quickly we picked up Season 3. I can kind of just move right into it.
“That was kinda the challenge for Season 2 for me — trying to find that balance of playing a 13-year-old, but then also not playing so much younger than I was at the time,” he continued.
Why does he want to do Heroes of Olympus rather than the Senior Year Adventures?
Down the line, if Scobell can establish himself outside of his Percy Jackson fame, he would like to adapt the Heroes of Olympus books.
It's something he has been vocal about, but why does he want to do Heroes of Olympus and not the Senior Year Adventures? As a fan of the books, Scobell thinks Heroes of Olympus is “so fleshed out,” and he views it as an “older-teen show.” Meanwhile, the Senior Year Adventures are “a lot of just short stories.”
Adapting Heroes of Olympus could allow audiences to see a more mature Percy Jackson. Upon reading the books as a kid, Scobell felt they were “different.”
That's not to say Scobell isn't open to doing both. However, he feels you “have to do Heroes of Olympus first” to be consistent. He knows there would be challenges.
Scobell appears open to doing movies, rather than TV shows, for adaptations of Heroes of Olympus and the Senior Year Adventures. But even he knows that'd be hard given the density of the books (for example, The Lost Hero is 557 pages).
“It's difficult because they're bigger books than the original five Percy Jackson books, so to do it in movies [you'd have to] cut so much out. So, I think it would still have to be a show,” he deduced.
His “difficult” face-off with Luke
In Season 2 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Luke (Charlie Bushnell) gets more screentime than ever. Bushnell delivers an impressive performance, and he goes toe-to-toe with Scobell throughout the season.
However, it wasn't always easy. In the second episode of Season 2, Bushnell delivers an emotional monologue, explaining his character's rationale.
This was especially “difficult” for Scobell and the rest of the cast to film, mostly because it was a reunion for him with Bushnell and Aryan Simhadri. Up to that point, he hadn't filmed anything for Season 2 with them, so the old friends had a hard time staying in character.
“That [scene] in particular was so difficult not to laugh [during] because watching Charlie and Aryan having to get into character and me having to do the same thing… I don't know. It just felt so awkward and weird after not doing that for so long,” he remembered. “For those first couple takes, it was impossible not to laugh at each other.”
Charlie Bushnell nailed the monologue
Like true professionals, they got the job done eventually. Scobell was extremely complimentary of Bushnell's performance in Season 2. Perhaps part of that is the Disney+ series being able to explore Luke's backstory more, making him an empathetic figure.
“It's definitely an interesting dynamic,” said Scobell. “In the books, it's easy to imagine [Percy] seeing Luke for the first time since the betrayal. But playing it, it's different — it's a little bit more difficult.
“And Charlie, being so good at what he does, did all the work for me in that way. It made this first meeting a lot smoother, and I think he did a really great job. It's not just Luke being Luke; it's him having to explain his entire side of this story in a page or two of dialogue,” he continued.
Scobell kept the compliments coming.
“He did an amazing job,” Scobell praised. “He was working at that for a long time, and I think he did a perfect job. I do think it does benefit us to have more Luke [in the series], because it makes it a lot easier to sympathize with him.”
That's how it should be, at least to Scobell.
“Even reading the book, it was easy to sympathize with him,” he said of Luke.
Walker Scobell wants to make a name for himself outside of Percy Jackson
As Scobell noted, he wants to make a name for himself outside of Percy Jackson. He has had marquee roles alongside the likes of Ryan Reynolds and Owen Wilson in The Adam Project and Secret Headquarters, but he's still expanding his portfolio.
His next movie role will be in The Angry Birds Movie 3. His role hasn't been revealed yet, but this isn't his first voiceover work, having previously appeared in an episode of Cartoonified with Phineas and Ferb. However, Angry Birds presented a new challenge for Scobell.
“It puts a lot of strain on your voice,” Scobell said about the role. “I did a Phineas and Ferb voice-acting thing, but the only voice acting I've ever done is ADR (automated dialogue replacement) for movies or shows I've done.”
He acknowledged that it was “definitely a different experience” than what he has done before, but he “loves it.” He praised his director and crew for The Angry Birds Movie 3, which he thought felt “weird because I've never actually met them in-person.”
Like many productions post-COVID, a lot of meetings were over Zoom. At least it sounds like Scobell was able to record his lines with others around during the recording sessions.
Why doing The Angry Birds Movie 3 was “weird”
Scobell grew up with the Angry Birds franchise, likely playing the game and was seven years old when the first movie popped into theaters in 2016. A decade later, he's starring in the third entry in the series. This is one of the biggest projects he has tackled, and it taught him a lot. He's pinching himself as he gets to see the movie come together and see himself as an Angry Bird.
“When the first one came out, I was like seven years old, and I saw it in theaters, and now I get to be part of it,” Scobell said. “I guess I never really thought about how big those movies were. I'm starting to see how this all comes together, and I'm like, Wow. I'm an Angry Bird. It's weird.”
Walker Scobell's driver's license fail
As Scobell revealed during an interview on Live with Kelly and Mark, he just got his driver's license. This is big news to any 17-year-old, but there are some downsides.
For one, he has a junior driver's license, meaning he can't drive past 11:00 or have more than one person who's not a family member in the car while driving.
He also now knows the responsibilities that come with having a driver's license. Before getting it, he and his brother would bug their older sister to drive them places. “She's always too tired,” he recalled.
However, before getting his license, Scobell promised his brother that he'd drive him “anywhere.” Now, he sympathizes with his sister. It didn't take long, either.
“I just remember being so annoyed at my brother for asking me to go to like Best Buy. I was like, Oh my God. This is how she feels.”
He also made a mistake when getting his license, and it'll be a few years before it can be undone.
“I didn't know that you were supposed to write your name in cursive; I tried to do a print version, and now when I show people, they just make fun of me,” he bravely admitted,” so I honestly just wish I didn't even get it at this point.”
Even if getting his driver's license may have been a failure in some regards, Scobell is riding high off Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2. Time will tell where his career goes from here, but in the interim, expect more from the son of Poseidon soon.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 is streaming on Disney+.
