American Gods is one of those novels that you read and afterwards feel angry at every English teacher and professor you ever had for not requiring you to read it a long time ago. It feels imminent, like it’s always existed. Maybe because it’s so full of mythos. (Here I am wishing I had time to re-read it this summer.)
The main character, Shadow Moon, is an ex-con who is hired as a bodyguard directly out of prison, for a man named Mr. Wednesday, who claims to be one of the oldest of gods. They traipse the American midlands, searching out the rest of the Old Gods (and don’t think the Judeo-Islam-Christian ones either; these are The GodS, plural) in order to unify them against a common foe: the New Gods (otherwise known as Americana Idols – power, wealth, intrigue, technology). It’s fantasy and metaphor and rife with realism as well. Those who read it have been imagining it on television and bigger screens for years. And it’s finally happening.
Why is this such good news all around?
Good News for Starz
They are bringing a highly-anticipated, much-beloved, award-winning book to life. ANOTHER ONE. Showtime and HBO have had the good fortune to bring original screenplays to TV, and they don’t scrimp on the book adaptations either (True Blood, The Leftovers, Game of Thrones), but Starz is proving to be a major player in scooping up original source material with BUILT IN FANDOMS. And I mean the crazy, get tattoos from the book kind of fans. DEDICATED fans. The anticipation for a great adaptation of their favorite novel is just as high amongst Gaimanites as it has been for fans of Outlander. If you’re like me, you’re a fan of both. But in many cases, Starz is bringing entirely different demographics to their premium channel just to follow these amazing projects. They’re becoming full-on premium television contenders.
Good News for Fans
Things can only go up for fans of these books and series. Outlander fans and American Gods fans are essentially scratching one another’s backs here as the news progresses. A channel that can helm a giant social media campaign before a show has shown a lick of footage to the public, AND catches the big fish of one of the most tumblr-ized and fandom-spanning authors around is in a prime position to capitalize on cross-promoting these series to their respective fans. Outlander fans are already subscribing to Starz in droves. Once production on American Gods begins, it won’t take much but a few well-timed network fan events and exclusives to make Gaiman fans of them as well. And of course, once Gaiman fans get a glimpse of Outlander, they won’t mistake it for Scottish Dr. Quinn. Also, the authors can keep up awesome banter like this about the old days on their SuperComputers, and make crossover fans in an instant.
Good News for Actors
This story is full of complicated characters … A MYRIAD of them. The main character, Shadow, is a big bouncer-type guy, who looks young for 28 and is dark-skinned and attractive. People have been wrongly fan-casting him for years. Everyone from Nathan Fillion to Vin Diesel to The Rock to John Cusack. Finally, someone on some forum somewhere mentioned Jason Momoa and people finally GOT IT: Shadow isn’t a scrawny white guy! I actually really like Jesse Williams from Grey’s Anatomy for Shadow, but I’m fully open to someone unknown. Look how well that turned out for our favorite, Jamie Fraser.
But that’s not even mentioning the countless other roles for great actors. My dream is to see Christoph Waltz as Mr. Wednesday, and Christina Hendricks as Easter. But even without bothering to fancast there are opportunities for actors of all nationalities and ethnicities, complicated parts for women and character actors. It could easily be a hall of fame AND a stepping stone for unknowns.
Good News for Readers and TV Watchers
Generally, no one loses with access to good media, and that’s what American Gods is. Popular culture may not have made household names out of Sam Black Crow and Low Key Lyesmith and Hinzelmann, but thanks to summer blockbusters, they mos def know Thor and Ra. Gaiman’s characters give new life to mythologies that get glanced over in the American consciousness, and showrunner Bryan Fuller (of the AMAZING BLOW YOUR MIND HANNIBAL) has said,
“Neil Gaiman has created the holiest of holy toy boxes with ‘American Gods’ and filled it with all manner of magical thing, born of new gods and old. Michael Green and I are thrilled to crack this toy box wide open and unleash the fantastical titans of heaven and earth and Neil’s vividly prolific imagination.”
And you know what that means? They are going to take the book and run wild with it. Gaiman is an executive producer, and I’m sure will aid in screenwriting, so I’ve no fears on a faithful adaptation, but I’m also desperately anticipating where the showrunners will take these mythical, omnipotent, fantastical characters. It will be beyond dragons and zombies and the Yellow King. It will surpass.
And THAT is good news.
Are you looking forward to American Gods? What do you think it will mean for the Starz network and their other series?
