SPOILER ALERT: If you have not completed ‘American Gods’ Season 2, this article contains many SPOILERS so back away now, or proceed with caution.
The cast of ‘American Gods’ Season 3 continues to expand. Ashley Reyes has been cast as a series regular, in the role of Cordelia, who appears to be a human character. On the other hand, Herizen F. Guardiola will portray another god of old, Oshun, the Yoruban goddess of love, purity, and fertility. (Hmmm, makes you wonder how she will get along with Bilquis.) Guardiola’s role is recurring.
Their casting follows news that Season 3 will also introduce Blythe Danner as the goddess Demeter, and Marilyn Manson as Viking death metal rocker Johan Wengren, lead singer of the band Blood Death.
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Reyes’ Cordelia appears to be Shadow Moon’s replacement. At the end of the second season, Shadow and Mr. Wednesday were separated and Wednesday headed out on his own. Cordelia is described as “a whip-smart but rebellious college dropout facing mounting legal bills and student debt.” That’s when Wednesday enters her life. She appears to be a computer expert, as Wednesday employs her to help him with “tech stuff.” Like Shadow in Season 1, Cordelia will find herself struggling to understand the nature of her new boss and his “eccentric friends.”
Reyes has mainly worked on the stage, most recently in Broadway’s ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’. Back in 2007, she starred on the PBS show ‘Kid Fitness’.
Guardiola’s Oshun “uplifted and empowered the enslaved people who built America. While known as the maintainer of balance, and the mother of sweetness, Oshun is formidable and known for her spiritual strength.” Oshun hails from Latin American Ifá and Yoruba religions, which date back to pre-colonial times. She and her fellow Orishas (spirits) will “play a mysterious but vital role” in Shadow’s journey.
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Guardiola may be best known for her role of Mylene Cruz in Baz Luhrman’s Netflix series ‘The Get Down’. She has been cast in the upcoming USA Network drama series ‘Dare Me’ based on Megan Abbott’s novel of the same name.
After discovering that he was Wednesday’s son at the end of Season 2, Shadow will embark on his own mission, to break away and determine his own fate. He will attempt to put down roots in the snowy idyllic town of Lakeside, WI. (Of course, anytime anyone from a show like this settles into a peaceful small town, that town is SCREWED.) While exploring his half-god nature, Shadow will discover a dark secret.
That is where the Orishas come in, acting as guides on his journey. “Shadow must decide exactly who he is: a god seeking veneration or a man in service of the “we.”
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Ian McShane heads up the cast as Mr. Wednesday, with Ricky Whittle as Shadow Moon. The cast of Season 2 also included Emily Browning as Laura Moon, Crispin Glover as Mr. World, Orlando Jones as Mr. Nancy, Yetide Badaki as Bilquis, Bruce Langley as the Technical Boy (Reborn at the end of S2 as the Quantum Boy), Mousa Kraish as the Jinn, Omid Abtahi as Salim, Demore Barnes as Mr. Ibis, and Pablo Schreiber as Mad Sweeney. It’s unknown if Schreiber will return for Season 3, as he has been cast in the Showtime’s live-action ‘Halo’ series, and Mad Sweeney died in Season 2. But it seemed that Laura was taking him to New Orleans, where he might be resurrected. Season 2 also featured recurring cast members Kahyun Kim as New Media (replacing Gillian Anderson’s Media), Peter Stormare as Czernobog, Sakina Jaffrey as Mama-Ji/Kali, the Hindu goddess of death, and Andrew Koji as tech mogul Mr. Xie.
Season 3 should arrive in 2020.
Source: Deadline
