This week, the Disney+ Percy Jackson and the Olympians series began production in Vancouver, and yesterday, we got news of some of the supporting roles for the upcoming series, including the fact that comedy actor Jason Mantzaoukas will portray Mr. D, a.k.a. Dionysus! Within the Percy Jackson series, Mr. D is serving out a punishment for pursuing an off-limits nymph by working as a camp counselor at Camp Half-Blood. As a counselor for Camp Half-Blood, he will be a recurring figure as the series continues.
On his blog, Percy Jackson author Rick Riordan wrote, “Self-described as ‘100% Greek,’ Jason is the perfect guy to inhabit everyone’s favorite grumpy wine god and head of camp, Dionysus. He’s also an accomplished jazz drummer!”
Since I first saw Jason Mantzaoukas in The League (which, to be fair, was probably not the first time, now that I’m looking at his filmography), I’ve loved following his work. Because he’s a talented, comedic player in supporting roles, it’s always a delight to see him appear in different shows like The Good Place, Big Mouth, Invincible, and Brooklyn 99. Also, I stand by my statement in October that Mantzoukas or Utrkarsh Ambudkar (Free Guy) would make for excellent Star-Lords if the MCU wants to open the multiverse.
Like Mr.D’s Greek/Roman (Bacchus) origin stories, Dionysus is the god of wine, theater, intersex people, and fertility. This encapsulates themes of revelry, partying, excess, orchards, and performance. The term Bacchanalia (a.k.a. fancy orgies) means the festival of Bacchus because he would host these wild parties. If I’m being 100% honest, I’d really rather see him play a more mature Dionysus than one in a fantasy adventure for a family audience, but this is still great casting even if we can’t get the full scope. In Percy Jackson, he starts as a bit washed up and fairly sober, and clearly doesn’t want to be a babysitter.
More Percy Jackson casting news
Announced alongside Mantzoukas, Virginia Kull is playing Sally Jackson (Percy’s mother), Glynn Turman is playing Mr. Brunner (Chiron the centaur), Megan Mullally is playing Mrs. Dodds (Alecto a Fury), and Timm Sharp is playing Gabe Ugliano (Percy’s Stepdad). Riordan wrote excitedly about each cast member but seemed extra excited for Glynn’s casing. This love and energy are so infectious that I now want to watch and rewatch some of Glynn’s most famous roles.
Not only is he a multitalented actor, Glynn is also a champion rodeo cowboy who has run Camp Gid D Up in Southern California since 1992 to introduce inner city and at-risk youth to horsemanship at a working ranch. In other words, he is the perfect Chiron, the immortal centaur and trainer of heroes at Camp Half-Blood.
Between the casting of Walker Scobell as Percy, Aryan Simhadri as Grover, and Sava Jeffries as Annabeth, they could have told us nothing else, and we’d still be ready to watch the show. The added casting news and the continued giddiness of Riordan are just a bonus.
(via Twitter, featured image: Craig Barritt/Getty Images for ReedPOP)
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