Percy Jackson Season 2: Was Andrew Alvarez Snubbed for a Key Role?

So, Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 rolled in and quietly swapped in a new face for Chris Rodriguez. If you clocked a different actor in the role and thought, Wait, wasn’t that kid on screen last season? — you’re not wrong. Here’s what actually happened, and why it’s not the usual messy recast story.

Who Chris Rodriguez is, and why he suddenly matters

Chris is Hermes’ son and Luke’s half-brother, and he becomes a bigger deal as the story digs into camp politics and, yes, Clarisse. Season 2 finally brings him into focus — which is where the casting wrinkle comes in.

The switch: Alvarez vs. Chacon

In Season 1, background camper Andrew Alvarez appeared and was labeled Chris Rodriguez in the credits, but nobody on screen actually called him Chris. Cut to the Season 2 premiere on December 10, 2025: Chris shows up as an actual character, and he’s played by Kevin Chacon. Cue headlines about a mid-season recast — but the creative team says that’s not the right way to look at it.

"[Andrew Alvarez] was only really named Chris in the credits [in season 1]... nobody outright said 'that's Chris Rodriguez' in the show." Co-creator Jonathan E. Steinberg and EP Craig Silverstein say they hadn’t locked in Chris as a full character back then. Rick Riordan adds, "This is really the first time that you see Chris Rodriguez as a full character," and casting Kevin Chacon is simply what made sense once Chris became central.

Important detail here: Alvarez isn’t out. The creators say he’s still in the series, continuing to play the role he was originally cast in for Season 1. In other words, Season 1’s credit tag jumped the gun, Season 2 introduces the real-deal Chris, and the background camper stays a background camper.

Why the show made the change

The team admits that slapping the name Chris on a background character back in Season 1 created headaches once they needed to build an actual storyline. They want space to develop Chris’ connection with Clarisse without it feeling like he’s tethered to Luke by default just because Season 1 framed it that way. If you’ve read the books, you know where this is headed: Clarisse helps bring Chris back after his Labyrinth-induced spiral courtesy of Minos, and their relationship grows from there.

• Season 2 premiered December 10, 2025 on Disney+.
• Kevin Chacon plays Chris Rodriguez starting in Season 2.
• Andrew Alvarez appeared in Season 1; he was credited as Chris but never named that on screen. He remains in the series in his original capacity.
• The creators say this isn’t a traditional recast — it’s the first proper introduction of Chris as a full character.
• Chris is Hermes’ son and Luke’s half-brother, with an arc that leans into Clarisse going forward.
• The show’s creative leads include Rick Riordan and Jonathan E. Steinberg.
• Current scoreboard: Rotten Tomatoes 95%, IMDb 7.0/10.
• Seasons: 2. Streaming home: Disney+.

Bottom line

This is less a switcheroo and more a course-correction: a background credit from Season 1 doesn’t bind the writers now that Chris actually matters. Honestly, better to fix it early than drag a half-set decision through the rest of the series.

Do you buy the explanation, or would you have kept Alvarez and rolled with it? Percy Jackson and the Olympians is streaming on Disney+.