Rachel Smythe’s Lore Olympus Lands Prime Video Animated Series

Prime Video has ordered an animated series based on Rachel Smythe’s acclaimed webcomic Lore Olympus, bringing its modern retelling of Persephone and Hades to a new screen. The series will be produced by WEBTOON Productions and The Jim Henson Company, with Julia Cooperman serving as showrunner, writer, and executive producer.

For webtoon readers, the announcement marks a major step for a series that helped prove creator-owned digital comics could become global entertainment franchises without losing their distinct visual identity. It also gives Lore Olympus a chance to reintroduce its mythological romance to viewers who may never have encountered Smythe’s original vertical-scroll comic.

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A Modern Olympus Built Around Persephone and Hades

Lore Olympus reimagines the myth of Persephone’s abduction and her relationship with Hades through a contemporary, socially connected pantheon. The gods attend parties, trade gossip, navigate friendships, and carry complicated personal histories, while the central romance develops against a backdrop of power, status, secrecy, and family conflict.

That modern framing is a significant part of the comic’s appeal. Rather than treating Greek mythology as a distant world of marble temples and heroic quests, Smythe places its gods in a setting that feels closer to celebrity culture and elite social circles. Olympus becomes a place of public image, private scandal, workplace politics, and emotionally messy relationships.

The premise remains recognizable, but the storytelling is not simply a retelling of a classical myth. It uses the familiar Persephone and Hades dynamic as an entry point for exploring consent, trauma, ambition, friendship, and the uneven power structures surrounding the characters. That gives the adaptation more dramatic territory than a straightforward romance fantasy.

Why the Webtoon’s Visual Style Matters

Smythe’s artwork is one of Lore Olympus’s defining features. The series is known for its bold color design, expressive character work, and an approach to mythology that feels stylish rather than historically literal. Persephone’s pink palette and Hades’ deep blue presentation are immediately readable, while the broader cast receives equally distinctive visual identities.

The vertical-scroll format also allows the comic to control rhythm in ways that traditional page-based comics handle differently. A quiet emotional beat can sit inside a large amount of digital space, while a sudden reveal or change in expression can land with unusual force as the reader scrolls downward. Those pauses and transitions are part of the reading experience, not just empty space between panels.

That creates an interesting challenge for the Prime Video adaptation. Animation can reproduce the comic’s colors and character designs, but it will need to find new ways to capture the timing created by scrolling. The series may have to translate visual pauses, dramatic reveals, and the comic’s highly composed layouts into movement, editing, sound, and performance.

There is no confirmed trailer, voice cast, episode count, or premiere date yet. The official announcement confirms that the show will be an adult animated series and will premiere exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

WEBTOON’s Flagship Romance Moves Into Animation

Lore Olympus began as a creator-driven project before becoming one of WEBTOON’s biggest international successes. Rachel Smythe first launched the comic on Tumblr and later brought it to WEBTOON, where the series became a major Western-originated hit on the platform.

The webtoon is now complete on WEBTOON, giving the adaptation a finished story to draw from rather than an ongoing serialization with an uncertain endpoint. The comic has also expanded into print editions and has received major comics recognition, including multiple Eisner Awards, Harvey Awards, and Ringo Award attention.

WEBTOON’s January 20, 2026 announcement described Lore Olympus as having more than 1.8 billion global views. The figure helps explain why the project matters beyond one popular romance title: it represents the growing value of webcomics as adaptable intellectual property and highlights how digital-first comics can build audiences across languages, formats, and regions.

The Jim Henson Company’s involvement adds another notable dimension. According to the announcement, this will be the company’s first adult animated series. Its participation suggests that the production is being positioned as more than a conventional children’s animation project, which is important for a story built around mature emotional themes, complicated relationships, and darker elements of myth.

What Fans Can Expect—and What Remains Unknown

Julia Cooperman is executive producing alongside David Madden and Sydney Bright of WEBTOON Productions, Aron Levitz, and Lisa Henson and Halle Stanford of The Jim Henson Company. Henson’s Delaney Shiokari is serving as executive in charge of production.

The creative lineup offers continuity with the original property while leaving room for the animated series to develop its own identity. Cooperman’s previous work includes The Winchesters and Pantheon, and her role across writing, showrunning, and executive production gives the adaptation a central creative voice.

For longtime readers, the biggest question will be how closely the series follows Smythe’s long-form character arcs. Lore Olympus is not only about whether Persephone and Hades become a couple; it is also an ensemble drama involving Olympus’s friendships, rivalries, family dynamics, and institutional power. The adaptation will need to balance the romance that brought many readers to the comic with the wider mythology that sustained its serialized storytelling.

For newcomers, the Prime Video series could serve as an accessible introduction to a landmark webtoon. For existing fans, its success will likely depend on whether it preserves the emotional specificity and visual boldness that made the original feel different from both traditional comics and conventional mythology adaptations.

At this stage, the confirmed news is substantial but still incomplete: Lore Olympus has a series order, Prime Video is the exclusive home, WEBTOON Productions and The Jim Henson Company are producing, and Julia Cooperman is leading the creative team. A release date and further casting details have not been announced.