In one of the most popular Netflix animated series Blood of Zeus, the creators are crystal clear that actor Ryan Gosling has influenced so much of their creative thinking. The creators of the series which is based on Greek mythology, Charley and Vlas Parlapanides unfold how the actor’s representation of young Hercules constructed their notion of storytelling.
The brothers are known for their innovative takes on Greek classical myths and how they portray them in different ways that pertain to their perspective. Regardless of drawing inspiration from the old legendary tale of Hercules, they compelled themselves to deviate from that path to a new unvisited side of Greek mythology. This ultimately led to the birth of the Blood of Zeus and Heron, its original main character.
Forging a New Mythological Adaptation by Deviating from Hercules’ Story
The visionary brothers, Charley Parlapanides and Vlas Parlapanides, in an interview via What’sonNetflix, have offered an insight about their inspiration from the story of Hercules. Both of them knew that they couldn’t directly adapt the story, so they started taking new perspectives on how to mold Greek mythology in their own way.
Nobody would care if you were to pitch Hercules; they would roll their eyes. There’s already so much of the Hercules story, especially young Hercules.
Charley also shared:
But you can’t pitch the straightforward version that people would just roll their eyes at what they feel has already been done to death or maybe they think that no one will ever do it better than Ryan Gosling, who played Young Hercules. But the bones of that story play an integral part in Blood of Zeus.
This has added a bit of a surprise in his comment about Ryan Gosling’s influence on their creativity. There are some crucial factors in adapting a popular mythological character for modern viewers. The brothers needed to find a new way to make their stand out in the world of Greek mythology adaptation.
In search of a new mythological figure who can strike a balance between Greek mythology and modernity, they fell upon their original protagonist, Heron.
Blood of Zeus Brings out a Hero from Ancient Inspiration
For Blood of Zeus, the Parlapandies brothers drew a new concept that centered around Heron without revisiting some familiar tale of Hercules. Even though Heron’s story is somewhat like Hercules’s myth, Heron differs from it in various ways.
Charley further explained:
Epicles and Hercules end up becoming heroes together. They join Jason on the Argo, become Argonauts, and what we thought was, oh, the Hercules story is always kind of cool, but is there a way of instead of them being allies, the two brothers, that would we make them adversaries instead.
This decision and thinking out of the matrix has led to the conflicted relationship between Heron and Seraphim in the animated series. Providing viewers with a fresh take on this rapport built in Greek mythology.
This Netflix animated series became a massive hit with the success of its first season. The second season of the series was released recently, and the third season is already set to be released in 2025. Thus fans can anticipate more innovative takes on Greek mythology for the upcoming season.
Blood of Zeus Season 2 is available to watch on Netflix.
