Neil Gaiman fans, Odin fans, lovers of fancy coin tricks, haters of the misappropriation of the Pagan fertility festival of Easter, unite in joy. We have our first look at the TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. The best-selling novel, and by far Gaiman’s most well known work in that format, has been on the cards for a few years, after the rights were picked up by Starz. Gaiman himself came on board as a producer, and Hannibal veteran Bryan Fuller was brought on as a showrunner, after he suddenly, unexpectedly and tragically found himself out of a job.
Perhaps in-keeping with the fact that it’s book about America written by a British man, both the central characters are played by British men. The protagonist, hapless ex-convict Shadow Moon, is played by Ricky Whittle (Hollyoaks, The 100), while Mr. Wednesday is played by Ian McShane, best known for portraying Al Swearengen in Deadwood, and more recently a one-ep stint as a Septon in Game of Thrones. Other heavyweights include Peter Stormare as Czernobog, Gillian Anderson as Media and Emily Browning as Shadow’s late wife, Laura.
It’s hard to get much from a 2 minute trailer, but stylistically it looks every bit as grandoise and dreamlike as the book, and it seems like it may have borrowed a few cues from the visual style of Hannibal, which is even more encouraging. Bonus points for using a heavier, more spaced out cover of the traditional American folk song ‘In the Pines’. The trailer was released to coincide with the show’s first ever panel at SDCC, so you would imagine even more information will trickle in as official and unofficial footage of that starts to surface.
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