Family matters

The third and final season of the Netflix animated series Blood of Zeus is out.

Set in mythical ancient Greece, the series revolves around Heron (voiced by Derek Phillips), the son of Zeus (voiced by Jason O’Mara), who tries to save Olympus and Earth from a demonic army after discovering his true heritage.

“Greek mythology is just one big family soap opera,” Charley Parlapanides, who created the series with his brother Vlas Parlapanides, said in an interview.

“We grew up in a very big, tight-knit Greek family. So I think that was always, even subliminally, part of the draw for us making this show. It’s about families and it all just meshed,” he added.

First premiered in 2020, the series garnered a positive feedback and critical acclaim for having a fresh take on Greek mythology. It was praised for its imagery and voice acting and the two seasons received a 100 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes.

“We come from the theatre and the live-action space, so we wanted the story to have emotional truth,” Vlas explained.

“We wanted to take that authenticity that you normally find in live-action, feature dramas and bring that to the animated space.

“Some people who watch this show don’t even realise it, but Powerhouse (the animation studio behind the series) and our compositors would manipulate the lighting and colour of the eyes to show expression.

“Every animated project is on a budget, and we all use cheats to help sell what we’re trying to do. The eyes were a big part of that,” he added.