Gaiman Gets His ‘Shadow’ For Starz Series ‘American Gods’
If you love Neil Gaiman and you don’t get the Starz network, you may want to contact your cable provider.
Starz announced today that Ricky Whittle (“The 100,” “Austenland”) has been cast as Shadow Moon, the central character of Gaiman’s acclaimed contemporary fantasy novel American Gods. The press release also noted that filming is set to begin in April, so more casting announcements are expected soon. Today’s announcement bolsters the expectation that the show might premiere in late 2016 or early 2017.
Gaiman himself said in the release announcing the casting, “I’m thrilled that Ricky has been cast as Shadow. His auditions were remarkable. The process of taking a world out of the pages of a book, and putting it onto the screen has begun. American Gods is, at its heart, a book about immigrants, and it seems perfectly appropriate that Shadow will, like so much else, be Coming to America. I’m delighted Ricky will get to embody Shadow. Now the fun starts.”
Showrunners Bryan Fuller and Michael Green commented in the release, “We searched every continent and country and all the islands in between for our Shadow Moon, and we are lucky to have found Ricky. Fans of the novel will find he has every bit of the heart of the character they fell in love with.”
Gaiman himself is writing several episodes. Showrunner duties will be handled by producer Bryan Fuller, whose writing credits include Hannibal, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Voyager, and Lost.
In a conversation in June 2015 with Collider, Fuller said “We are cranking away. We’ve got the first two scripts written already. It’s wonderful to be working with Neil Gaiman.” He also confirmed Gaiman’s involvement, saying “Neil Gaiman is going to be writing episodes of the show. It’s going to have scope, as it should.”
HBO was reportedly interested in adapting American Gods. The network seemed like a natural fit, with their penchant for wide-ranging, complex, challenging material like “Game of Thrones.” Once HBO picked up George R.R. Martin’s series, however, the development deal was picked up by Starz. With the success of their fantasy series Outlander bringing in viewers, Starz could propel Gaiman’s story of a taciturn mortal caught in a sprawling battle between old gods and new to the kind of pop-culture status enjoyed by “Game of Thrones” and Marvel Cinematic Universe TV shows and movies.
As a lifelong fan of Gaiman’s work, and American Gods in particular, I can’t wait to see these characters brought to life. Whittle looks very promising as Shadow. I’d love to see Ian McShane as Mr. Wednesday, Simon Pegg as Mad Sweeney and Hayley Atwell as Laura.
Who would you dreamcast for Mr. Wednesday, Laura, Low-Key Lyesmith, Mr. Nancy, and your other favorite characters?
