It’s official: Disney+’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians is adding some serious star power, and sapphic energy, to Mount Olympus. Emmy-winning Saturday Night Live alum Kate McKinnon has joined the cast of Season 3 as Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and pleasure.
Fresh off her roles in Barbie and The Roses, McKinnon is no stranger to divine chaos or camp perfection. According to Variety, Aphrodite “can alter her appearance depending on the beholder” and must ensure Percy (Walker Scobell) “respects the power and importance of love before she agrees to offer aid on his quest.”
Following the success of the first season, Disney renewed the Percy Jackson series, which is helmed by YA author Rick Riordan, for seasons 2 and 3.
What’s Next for Percy
While Season 2, premiering this December, adapts The Sea of Monsters, Season 3 will dive into The Titan’s Curse, the third book in Riordan’s beloved Percy Jackson & the Olympians franchise. Riordan himself confirmed the renewal earlier this year, saying, “Raise anchors. Hoist the mainsail. All hands on deck, demigods.”
More Gods and Monsters
McKinnon isn’t the only new addition. Sandra Bernhard, Kristen Schaal, and Margaret Cho are joining Season 2 as the Gray Sisters — a trio of chaotic seers who’ll no doubt bring comedy and confusion in equal measure. Courtney B. Vance will also take up Zeus’s lightning bolt, following the passing of the late Lance Reddick.
Returning cast members include Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson, Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth Chase, and Aryan Simhadri as Grover Underwood, with Daniel Diemer, Charlie Bushnell, and Dior Goodjohn rounding out the core demigod squad.
With queer icons like McKinnon, Bernhard, and Cho joining the pantheon, Percy Jackson’s next adventure looks more divine than ever.
Time to prepare your offerings, demigods, Aphrodite’s about to make love a battlefield.
