How Percy Jackson Avoids Stranger Things' Biggest Problems

Since the show's 2016 premiere, the "Stranger Things" kids have grown up into spunky 17-year-olds played by actors who are — in some cases, very clearly — in their early-to-mid 20s.

In theory, the same predicament could await the teen cast members of another popular fantasy-adventure streaming saga, Disney+'s "Percy Jackson and the Olympians." So, partially to prevent the march of time from messing with the show's fictional integrity, the team behind "Percy" filmed Seasons 2 and 3 just about back-to-back. 

"One thing I did not fully appreciate when we started this whole process is how long a season of television takes to produce, especially big television like this," Rick Riordan, executive producer and author of the original "Percy Jackson" novels, told TheWrap. "I naively thought, 'Yeah, we'll hire the kids of the right age, and we'll do a season a year, no problem.' In reality, that's very difficult to do for a number of reasons."

After Season 1 hit Disney+ in 2023, fans waited two years for Season 2 of "Percy Jackson." With "Percy Jackson" Season 3 already in production, we can expect a relatively quick turnaround for the next set of episodes — a change of pace for any viewers accustomed to waiting three years for a new "Stranger Things" season.

"[If we're renewed for] Season 4 next year, I'll be the same age Logan [Lerman] was [when he starred in] the first [Percy Jackson] movie, you know?" said 16-year-old Walker Scobell, when asked if he worries about aging faster than his character, Percy. "So, I think we're still behind the movies."