‘Percy Jackson’ executive producer reveals major change in Medusa’s story

Percy Jackson’s mythical villain Medusa will get a closer look in to her real dark story in the new Disney+ series.

Rick Riordan’s 2005 Percy Jackson and the Olympians books represents the snake-headed woman as one of the first big victories of the titular character.

However, Rebecca Riordan, the author’s wife and executive producer of the TV series, revealed to Variety that Medusa will be having a backstory this time.

She explained that “the only reason Medusa is not more fleshed out in the books was that it was Percy’s narrative and we don’t have her perspective,” because the books are written in first-person.

“As a 12-year-old boy in 2005, I don’t think he had the bandwidth for deconstructing the patriarchy,” Rick told. “He was looking at it as, ‘This is a scary woman who’s trying to turn me into stone.’”

Rebecca shared that Medusa’s story was “one of the first things” that they discussed in the writers’ room as “to not have a patriarchal lens.”

In the original Greek mythology, Medusa is a woman who has taken a vow of celibacy to show devotion to Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Medusa eventually finds herself in a relationship with sea god Poseidon. However, one night the relationship becomes sexual, with the encounter happening in Athena’s temple.

Athena then punishes Medusa by taking away her beauty by turning her into a gorgon that turns anyone to stone she makes eye contact with. Demigod Perseus, whom Percy Jackson is named after, kills her and gifts her head to Athena.

According to some interpretations, the encounter at Athena’s temple was not consensual as Poseidon raped Medusa.