If you grew up reading the Percy Jackson book series, you know how special it is to see Percy and Annabeth fall in love as they grow up as demigods. As the series progresses with a third season on the way, we can expect to see it come to life with Walker Scobell and Leah Jeffries’ performances... eventually. But what’s the TV show’s approach to the young romance after that sweet teaser?
When CinemaBlend’s own Laura Hurley talked to Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ showrunner Craig Silverstein at SCAD TVfest, he talked about how the series is handling “Percabeth.” In his words:
We are trying to slow burn it. We're finding the balance. Like, these are kids who kind of found each other. They didn't have anybody to relate to, and then friendship is so intense, right? The idea that you're going to go out of your way to save your friend. You don't have to be romantically in love with that person to want to save their life or whatever. I feel some people read it, 'Oh, he's saving her life. He must love her!' They go like, 'They're jumping ahead in the romance!' But not necessarily.
If you’ve read the books, you know that Percy and Annabeth have a slow burn romance throughout the first five books that becomes official at the conclusion of the series in The Last Olympian. Season 2 definitely gave us a taste of their growing love for each other – especially through Percy’s confession to Annabeth in Episode 5 when he says he’d save her over saving Olympus. But that foundation of friendship is important as well, and "so intense" for these two.
As Silverstein shared, when it comes to crafting the romance part of the book-to-screen adaptation, they are trying to find a “balance” to the relationship. As fans have interpreted Percy wanting to save Annabeth so intensely as a non-platonic moment, the showrunner made a good point about how friendship can be rather intense. And we’re talking about 14-year-olds here. Everything is intense at that age, isn’t it?
When the Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2’s finale aired in late January, it was teased that Season 3 is going to come out in the 2026 TV schedule with a teaser of Percy and Annabeth together at a school dance. Check it out below:
In the scene, Annabeth takes Percy’s hand so they can dance, which definitely plays into their romantic plotline even further. Here’s what Silverstein said regarding the teaser:
[The fans] went crazy and we were glad to be able to do it, because we want to communicate that you're not going to wait as long as between [Seasons] 1 and 2 for between 2 and 3. [Season] 3 going to be out this year, so we wanted to send that message.
Season 3 started filming back in August and there’s just a month and a half left of production left, per the showrunner. As Silverstein shared, one big reason why the new season was filmed so shortly after Season 2 has to do with the main cast growing up so fast. Since the teaser chose to focus on Percy and Annabeth’s relationship, we definitely expect to see their slow burn romance continue to grow this season alongside additions like Kate McKinnon set to play Aphrodite and Marvel’s Dafne Keen on board as Artemis.
Now, we don’t know exactly yet when Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 3 is going to premiere, so you can catch up or rewatch the series with a Disney+ subscription and/or Hulu subscription while we wait.
