When news recently broke regarding Neil Gaiman signing a long term contract to adapt a large number of his books for television, fans of the gothic author were ecstatic and rightfully so. He has personally overseen the development of his first show on Starz -- “American Gods," and after viewing the trailer of the series, I cannot wait for more Gaiman shows to hit the television world.
Of old gods and new
“American Gods” is the stirring story of gods taking on gods with the help of some puny human pawns. According to the mythology of this world, there are some gods who have been around since creation itself, while others have emerged only after modern society has taken form.
The older gods, at least according to the trailer, seems to be led by Ian McShane who plays Mr. Wednesday.
Mr. Wednesday, for reasons still unknown, has enlisted the help of an ex-con Shadow Moon (played by Ricky Whittle) in order to battle the New Gods who seem to be tempting the populace with wealth, power and technology. The balance of power in the known world rests on the outcome of this epic battle.
Capable hands
Neil Gaiman has always expressed deep disinterest for simply handing over his work to network and studio executives to be adapted as they please. He has only green-lit projects after knowing that something unique could be created for other mediums with the help of his talent. Needless to say (especially after looking at the first trailer), Bryan Fuller looks more than capable of tackling this mighty project and doing justice to Gaiman’s lore.
Fuller has already gained a steady fan following after his work on NBC’s “Hannibal” and his eye for creating hauntingly beautiful imagery should hold him steady while tackling the themes of this show. The trailer looks absolutely gorgeous in terms of tone and choice of direction. There seems to be a healthy mixture of myth, gore, brilliance and brutality in this first look, and it should be enough to hold fans until "American Gods" launches on April 30th. Here is the first trailer below. Enjoy!
