As those who have already read their way through Rick Riordan’s book sagas know, the world of Percy Jackson and the Olympians is much vaster than the Disney+ series’ first four episodes have shown us. There’s one character in particular I can’t wait to see: Nico Di Angelo—and it seems like they know it!
I believe that there has been foreshadowing about this character already and that there will be more to come before this first season comes to an end, so allow me to break it all down for you—because I know a good chunk of OG readers and people who were in the fandom on Tumblr back in the 2010s feel the same way as I do.
***Be warned that there will be minor spoilers ahead for the events of The Lightning Thief, and so the entire first season of Percy Jackson and The Olympians, as well as major ones for the upcoming books.***
So, let’s talk Nico di Angelo. I know you want him to appear in this show as much as I do—and I want that very much, considering the massive impact his character had on little tween me back when he first appeared in The Titan’s Curse. After all, everyone’s favorite Ghost King is one of the most beloved characters in the fandom, because he checks pretty much every single box that made and still continue to make everyone go bonkers in fandom spaces—child of Hades, angry with the world, deeply traumatized, very queer, snarky, and a bit scary. Plus, he’s Italian, but that might just be a perk for me personally.
Even though he shouldn’t appear in Percy Jackson and the Olympians until the show’s possible third season—not that any further seasons have been confirmed yet—it makes sense for the showrunners to sprinkle his aura here and there to remind those who know about him that he is potentially appearing sometime in the future.
There were actually some details in the first episode of Percy Jackson and the Olympians that, at least to me, were glaring references to Nico and, by extension, his older sister Bianca. The first was, obviously, Sally Jackson promising Gabe she would stop at “D’Angelo’s and pick up sandwiches”—because the fact that they chose to go with “D’Angelo’s” out of all the possible names in the world just screams foreshadowing to me.
The second is Grover showing Percy his Mythomagic cards. Sure, the cards serve as a sort of introduction to the Greek world for Percy, who at that point still has no idea of his demigod status, but also can’t help but bring Nico to mind.
That’s because Nico is also a Mythomagic enthusiast extraordinaire, so much so that Bianca goes out of her way to pick up a Hades figurine, the only one missing from Nico’s collection, to bring back to him while in “the Junkyard of the Gods” near Gila Claw in Arizona during The Titan’s Curse—an act that, as we all sadly know, turns out to be fatal since the figurine served as a switch for the activation of a prototype of Hephaestus’ giant automaton Talos.
And then there’s the show’s sixth episode, whose title “We Take a Zebra to Vegas” suggests that Percy, Annabeth and Grover will finally stumble into the infamous Lotus Hotel and Casino—where Bianca and Nico di Angelo also are, since they are retrieved from the hotel only after the events of The Lightning Thief. There are so many possibilities for some more little Easter eggs, or maybe even a glimpse of two young kids dressed in clearly out-of-time fashion strolling in the background of a shot.
(featured image: Disney+)
