Tony Award-winning actor and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda has accepted a role as Hermes in the upcoming Percy Jackson and the Olympians series on Disney+. Miranda, known for his work on Hamilton, In The Heights, and Encanto, will join previous cast members Walker Scobell, Leah Jeffries, and Jason Mantzoukas.
Based on the best-selling Percy Jackson and the Olympians book series by Rick Riordan, the new Percy Jackson series on Disney+ will tell the story of eponymous twelve-year-old hero Percy Jackson (Scobell) in a world where the ancient Greek gods are not only still alive, but they’ve got kids. Percy, a sarcastic, sassy, good-natured son of Poseidon who’s just coming to terms with a world-changing revelation and his new godly powers, is tasked with recovering Zeus’s deadly lightning bolt and must team up with Annabeth (Jeffries), a daughter of Athena, and his best friend Grover (Aryan Simhadri) in a difficult cross-country journey filled with gods and monsters of legend.
What We Know About Lin-Manuel Miranda in ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’
Lin-Manuel Miranda will be joining the Percy Jackson Disney+ series as Hermes, the Olympian god of messengers, travelers, and thieves. Described by Deadline as “charismatic & boisterous,” Hermes has a strained relationship with his demigod son Luke that’s lasted years, leading to Hermes being “hesitant to help Percy and his friends on their quest as sometimes getting involved is more trouble than it’s worth.” Miranda is officially the third Olympian to be cast in the series, following Jason Mantzoukas as Dionysus, the god of wine, and Adam Joseph Copeland – aka WWE wrestler Edge – as Ares, the god of war.
The new Disney+ series is only the latest addition to Miranda’s collection of work for Disney, with the songwriter having penned award-winning soundtracks to Encanto (2021) and Moana (2016). On Broadway, Lin-Manuel Miranda is best known for writing, composing, and starring in the hit musicals In the Heights, where he starred as Usnavi de la Vega, and Hamilton, where he starred as Alexander Hamilton. As far as his acting career is concerned, Miranda has also appeared in Mary Poppins Returns (2018), two Star Wars films, and the movie adaptation of In the Heights (2021), among other roles.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney+ is currently being directed by James Bobin, with Rick Riordan and Jon Steinberg having written the pilot episode. Steinberg and Dan Shotz serve as executive producers alongside Bobin, Riordan, Rebecca Riordan, Bert Salke, Monica Owusu-Breen, Jim Rowe, Anders Engström, Jet Wilkinson, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell, and D.J. Goldberg.
