Percy Jackson cast and crew honor the late Lance Reddick ahead of his debut as Zeus

Tonight, Disney+ will air the season 1 finale of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, where we'll finally meet Zeus, the god of thunder and king of the gods. Young Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon, has been trying to find Zeus' stolen master lightning bolt the entire season, so meeting Zeus is a big deal. He's been kept offscreen this entire time, increasing his mystique.

Zeus is played by Lance Reddick, who you may recognize from The Wire, the John Wick movies, and any other number of projects from over the years where Reddick inevitably steals the show with his skill and charisma. Reddick died last year from heart disease, making his turn as Zeus one of his final performances. "It’s hard to accept that he’s gone. It was such a blow,” Percy Jackson author Rick Riordan told TV Insider. “I am grateful that at least I got to meet him and talk to him when he was on set and tell him what a fan I am of his work and how much it meant to me in all of his different things that he’s done over the years, from The Wire all down to Bosch, down to Percy Jackson.”

"He had the power. He was a perfect leader, and to see him embody Zeus, the king of the cosmos, was just incredible. So it’s bittersweet, but I’m glad that one of the things the show can do is be a coda and a tribute and one of his last performances."

Toby Stephens, who plays Zeus' brother Poseidon, the god of the oceans, said he connected with Reddick on set very quickly. “I was really shocked and really, really quite devastated by the news [of his death]," Stephens said. "And I was incredibly sad, obviously, for his family. But I was also sad that I wouldn’t get the experience to work with him again, because I really enjoyed it.”

"I was really looking forward to doing more stuff with him. That’s really disappointing, but I’m sure they’ll find a way to honor him in the way that they continue the story forward. It’s just really sad."

It is indeed a shame that Percy Jackson and the Olympians cast such a powerhouse actor in such an important role and audiences will only get to see what he can do with it for the space of one episode. If the show is renewed for a second season, presumably the role of Zeus will be recast. We haven't even seen the new episode yet, but we already know that Reddick will be a tough act to follow.

The season 1 finale of Percy Jackson and the Olympians drops tonight on Disney+ at 8:00 p.m. CST.

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