Courtney B. Vance paid tribute to the late Lance Reddick earlier than formally taking up his position as Zeus for Season 2 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
“Courtney was so nice when he confirmed up — he made this speech to the solid and crew honoring Lance and saying that he knew what the duty was about entering into the sneakers of that efficiency,” the present’s government producer Craig Silverstein shared in an interview with Leisure Weekly revealed on Tuesday, July 22. “And it ended up being very emotional however very, very fulfilling. We have been sure we had made the proper selection earlier than, however we have been actually sure when he gave that lovely speech on the set earlier than stepping in entrance of the digicam.”
Walker Scobell, who performs the present’s titular demigod, shared that Reddick’s spouse, Stephanie Reddick, visited the set to look at Vance movie his scenes as Zeus. “He did such a tremendous job,” Scobell advised the outlet. “He honored Lance spectacularly.”
Lance died on the age of 60 in March 2023, 9 months forward of Percy Jackson‘s Season 1 premiere that December. Reddick makes a small look within the Season 1 finale, as Percy travels to Mount Olympus to current the King of the Gods together with his lacking Grasp Bolt — solely to just about get zapped by him after revealing Kronos’ plans to return to energy.
Walker Scobell/Instagram
Vance was introduced as Reddick’s alternative in November 2024. “I do know that entering into this position of Zeus can be a memorable expertise and I’ll be giving my brother, Lance Reddick, who left us means too quickly, a heavenly hug,” he mentioned in a press release to Selection on the time.
Within the EW article, Percy Jackson writer Rick Riordan famous that he and Vance had “a number of conversations” about how you can honor Reddick within the present’s sophomore season. “Zeus being the king of the Gods, he’s essential, however he doesn’t present up on display quite a bit, however it’s essential when he does as a result of he has such gravitas,” he shared. “And Courtney did an incredible job with it, so we lucked out.”
Riordan added that Season 2 received’t dive into Zeus’ change of actor, describing the transition as “natural” and “seamless.”
Initially, the present’s creatives thought-about excluding Zeus from the brand new season, regardless of his demigod daughter, Thalia (portrayed by Tamara Sensible), taking part in a pivotal position in The Sea of Monsters, the e-book on which the brand new episodes are primarily based.
“Actually, it was a call that we weren’t positive we have been going to need to face this season,” Silverstein advised EW. “We knew that we must be confronted with what to do concerning the position in some unspecified time in the future, and it turned out to be this season.”
Sensible’s casting as Thalia even shares a candy connection to Reddick, because the actress performed his on-screen daughter within the 2022 Netflix collection Resident Evil. “One thing felt very proper about that,” mentioned Silverstein.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Season 2 Premiere, December 2025, Disney+
