Not only do we have the first couple of photos from Starz’ ‘American Gods‘ but we also have some fun background details as well as two new casting announcements. Fan favorite Orlando Jones (‘Sleepy Hollow’,’Madiba’) has just joined the series as one of the major players in the series. On top of that Demore Barnes (’12 Monkeys’,’Hemlock Grove’) has just signed on as well.
As mentioned above, Jones will be playing a major role as he takes on the part of Mr. Nancy. His actual name though is Anansi who is an ancient African trickster God and one of Mr. Wednesday’s closest friends. They’re working together to handle the problem that is America’s new Gods.
Barnes will play Mr. Ibis who is the keeper of all stories both past and present. He loves to tell these stories and has a very dry sense of humor.
I’m very excited to see Jones in the role and think he’ll make a great addition this the cast. Speaking of what I like to see though we also have the first two stills from the series and some details on the show as well.
The first scene takes place in Jack’s Crocodile Bar which is one of the earliest locations in the novel where we have Ian McShane’s Mr. Wednesday watching as Ricky Whittle’s Shadow and Pablo Schreiber’s Mad Sweeney get into a fight. This is where Shadow truly impresses Mr. Wednesday for the first time.
According to Executive Producer Bryan Fuller:
“It was one of the sets that we were the most excited about and an opportunity to do a tonal landgrab for what we are and what the style of the show will be. [Jack’s] is a kind of hillbilly chic aesthetic for Shadow’s entrée into the world of the gods.”
Second up though is just a great close up of Mr. Wednesday himself who we’ll be spending a lot of time with when the series airs.
He really does look the part and Fuller says that the looks aren’t everything as:
“I think the comedy and charm and ease of Wednesday’s appeal is very well-suited for Ian McShane. He has a vibrancy as Wednesday that could have gone so many different ways in other actors’ hands, but has such a specificity and reality, despite the situation at hand.”
With ‘Game of Thrones’ coming to an end and such an impressive line up of talent here you can bet HBO is wishing they had committed to the series when they had a chance. ‘American Gods’ is looking to be the premium network original series to watch when it debuts and I cannot wait!
Are you looking forward to checking out ‘American Gods’ when it premieres? What are your thoughts on Orlando Jones and Demore Barnes joining the show?
Synopsis:
American Gods has been translated into over 30 languages and earned numerous accolades including Hugo, Nebula and Bram Stoker Awards for Best Novel. The plot posits a war brewing between old and new gods: the traditional gods of mythological roots from around the world steadily losing believers to an upstart pantheon of gods reflecting society’s modern love of money, technology, media, celebrity and drugs. Its protagonist, Shadow Moon, is an ex-con who becomes bodyguard and traveling partner to Mr. Wednesday, a conman but in reality one of the older gods, on a cross-country mission to gather his forces in preparation to battle the new deities.
Sources: Entertainment Weekly, Slash Film, and Coming Soon
Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!
