"Percy Jackson and the Olympians" Season 2 Finds Its Cyclops Tyson

The cast of the TV adaptation of Rick Riordan's best-selling book series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” season 2 is starting to grow.

During the series' San Diego Comic-Con panel, Riordan announced that Daniel Diemer has been tapped to play Tyson, Percy’s half-brother and a cyclops, in Season 2.

Season two of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” will adapt the second of Riordan’s novels, "The Sea of Monsters", which sends Percy (Walker Scobell) and some of his fellow demigods on an oceangoing quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece.

“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.”

Tyson is an important new character in “Sea of Monsters,” which will be the basis of Season 2. 

Diemer previously starred in “Under the Bridge,” “The Midnight Club,” “The Man in the High Castle”, and more.

“Thank you so much, Rick, for the warm welcome,” Diemer said. “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.”

Cast members Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries, Aryan Simhadri, Virginia Kull, Adam Copeland, and co-showrunners Dan Shotz and Jonathan E. Steinberg were on hand for the panel. 

Jay Duplass, who plays Hades on the show, moderated the discussion.

Steinberg teased that Season 2 will be “very wet” and have “some new friend we’re going to make.” 

Jeffries noted that the cast’s “best work” is yet to come in the sophomore season.

“I wanted to make sure I played Annabeth so well that you wouldn’t know I’m not Annabeth when we say cut,” she added. “I’m so grateful I get to play this part because I’ve never played someone like this before. For what’s to come, we’re gonna show you guys so much more of what we can do. We are all going to show our best work in this new stuff. I love you guys so much for me to not give it my all.”

“Percy Jackson” debuted on Disney+ on December 19, 2023, and finished its eight-episode first season on January 30, 2024.

Season 1 was based on the first book in Riordan’s series "The Lightning Thief" and followed Percy (Scobell), a 12-year-old modern demigod, who’s just coming to terms with his newfound supernatural powers when the sky god Zeus (the late Lance Reddick) accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt. 

Percy and his friends Annabeth (Jeffries) and Grover (Simhadri) venture on a trek across America to find it and restore order to Olympus.

The series has been streamed for over 110 million hours across both Disney+ and Hulu. Divided by the season’s runtime, that translates to roughly 20.6 million total views, suggesting that the season’s audience grew throughout its monthlong run. Episode 1 hit 13.3 million views in its first six days of availability.

It was also a hit with critics, earning 92% on Rotten Tomatoes with Variety‘s Aramide Tinubu praising it as “a gorgeous, intriguing narrative about self-discovery, courage and friendship.”

The series success was crucial for Disney, whose execs gave the series a Star Wars-sized budget and were betting on its potential to kick off a major franchise. 

“Percy Jackson and the Olympians” hails from Disney Branded Television, and 20th Television is the studio.