Fans Are in Shambles After ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ Series Casts Lin-Manuel Miranda

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the highly anticipated new TV series coming to Disney+ in 2024, is based on the young adult novel series of the same name. The show follows the children of famed Greek Gods as they harness their powers, dealing with the challenges of having absent parents, and all the other fun stuff that comes with being a half-god teenager. And though fans are extremely excited for the remake, one recent casting in particular has set the fandom in flames: Lin-Manuel Miranda as Hermes.

While rumors of the show’s possibility had been circulating for awhile, the green light finally came and was announced by Rick Riordan, the author of the books, via the Disney+ Twitter this past January. Since then, the casting announcements have been absolutely impeccable. Youngster Walker Scobell was cast as Percy this past April, and the trio of titular characters being completed with Leah Jeffries as Annabeth daughter of Athena, and Aryan Simhadri as Grover, Percy’s satyr best friend. Fans continued to rejoice at the stellar casting choices as more announcements flooded in, including Jason Mantzoukas and Megan Mullally, until this week… Lin-Manuel Miranda was cast as Hermes, messenger of the gods — and people had lots to say about it on social media.

On the announcement on his website, Rick Riordan stated, “Once we’d written the script and had Hermes’ lines, I could not get Lin-Manuel Miranda’s voice out of my head. I knew he would be the perfect person to bring Hermes to life in all his complex glory.”

Miranda’s casting was met with a wide variety of emotions from fans on Twitter and TikTok. Some in despair, others finding the situation hilarious, and those wondering exactly what dirt he has to keep bagging all these big title projects.

In the Percy Jackson world, Hermes’ demigod son, Luke, turns out to be a pretty unpleasant fellow. People poked fun at this connection with one person on Twitter stating, “I too would probably commit war crimes if Lin-Manuel Miranda was my father.”

Still, the teaser trailer for the series looks extremely promising, with already more similarities to the books than the previous, much maligned movie series. After being vocal about his distaste for the movie adaptations, we have to trust Riordan’s hands on work with the show, and sheer excitement for it will make it a good watch. We’ve loved the casting so far, right? Fingers and toes crossed that the next casting announcement will be Lerman himself as Poseidon, or a cameo at least! Miranda may be the price we pay for that to happen.

@rinloso

when god opens a window he ruins a really good door #acrossthespiderverse #percyjackson #danielkaluuya #linmanuelmiranda

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