Asia Minor Pictures

ASIA MINOR PICTURES

Applied Imagination

ASIA MINOR PICTURES

Applied Imagination

BLOOD OF ZEUS

Reinventing Greek Mythology
with Charles and Vlas Parlapanides

Season 1 Production of BLOOD OF ZEUS

Behind

The Story.

Charles and Vlas Parlapanides, the creative minds behind Netflix’s Blood of Zeus, grew up immersed in the rich world of Greek mythology. “Our mother and grandmother would tell us these stories before bed,” Charles recalls. “They always told them in a way that filled us with excitement and wonder.”

That early love for myth became a creative foundation—but pitching traditional Greek mythology in Hollywood wasn’t easy. “When we’d bring up the old tales, even though executives would say they loved Greek mythology, their eyes would glaze over,” says Vlas. “They feel like there’ve been ten versions of Hercules already.”

So the brothers took a different route: they introduced new characters and framed Blood of Zeus as one of the “lost tales” from the oral tradition of Greek mythology. “It gave us artistic liberty,” Charles explains. “If it was never transcribed, maybe one story was lost. That let us go anywhere with the narrative while still staying true to the mythological world.” Their protagonist, Heron, is a complete outsider—a bastard son, cast off and ostracized. The choice to center the story on such a character was deeply personal. “We were children of immigrants,” Vlas shares. “There were times we felt like outsiders. We were the kids who brought spanakopita to lunch, and people looked at it funny.”

Heron’s journey echoes the archetypal “Hero’s Journey,” popularized by Joseph Campbell and adapted into sci-fi classics like Star Wars. “George Lucas took mythology and Campbell and put them in a science fiction realm,” says Charles. “We’re pulling it back into myth—into swords and sandals. In a way, it’s all come full circle.”

Blood of Zeus is not just a retelling—it’s a reimagining.

It honors the myths while giving them new breath, rooted in personal experience, timeless structure, and cinematic storytelling.