Starz Wants You to Know That ‘American Gods’ is Going to be Around for a While
Well, it’s official – American Gods is a rating hit for Starz. Not only was it met with critical and audience acclaim after hitting the small screen, it was immediately picked up for a second season, and it turns out that for the network there is no end in sight.
While speaking at this year’s Television Critics Association press junket, Starz CEO Chris Albrecht said “We are certainly on board for as long as the show makes sense for Starz. We don’t see an end in sight. It is a difficult show to do and wrangle, so I don’t know when the next season will be on the air, but as soon as possible.” Ideally, Albrecht said that they hope American Gods would go on indefinitely.
The series is based on the 2001 Neil Gaiman novel of the same name and follows Shadow Moon, an ex-con recruited by Mr. Wednesday to recruit the old Gods for a battle against the new gods of Technology and Media. The first season only covered about 15-20% of the book in addition to some added plot lines by series creators Bryan Fuller and Michael Green.
While it may seem like a hefty task to drag one novel out “indefinitely” it will be a collaborative effort between Starz, its partner Freemantle, and Gaiman, which means that the story and the source material are all in good hands. At the moment, Gaiman has spoken of plans to write a sequel, but the release date is still unknown. However, showrunners may find some answers in his 2005 spinoff novel, Anansi Boys or possibly Monarch of the Glen, which was the 2006 novella detailing Shadow Moon’s life after American Gods.
American Gods currently stars Ricky Whittle, Emily Browning, Crispin Glover, Bruce Langley, Yetide Badaki, Pablo Schreiber, and Ian McShane.
Update: This article was revised to state that Gaiman does have plans to write a sequel.
Having studied Media & Writing at James Madison University, I always knew that I wanted to do some type of creative writing, but being able to write about zombies, Starks, and superheroes on a daily basis for Fan Fest is my actual dream. While I probably shouldn’t be as proud as I am to be so similar to Nick Miller, I do hope to one day write my own “Pepperwood Chronicles’.