American Gods is available on Amazon Prime Video
Season 1 of American Gods left fans on the edge of their seats with all-out war declared. Since the cliffhanger, it has been a long wait to discover precisely what fate awaits Shadow (Ricky Whittle) and Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane).
Thankfully, American Gods Season 2 will soon be underway—a feat that has not been without its fair share of stumbling blocks.
What is the show about?
American Gods is a fantasy drama series adapted from Neil Gaiman’s beloved novel of the same name. The basic premise behind American Gods is that over the course of history, immigrants to America have brought their gods with them. Over time, these old deities have been abandoned, becoming characters on the fringe of society. Now, these old gods fight against newer gods (in the form of technology and media) who threaten to destroy them forever.
The series originally airs on Starz in the USA but is an Amazon Exclusive show here in the UK. Series 1 can be watched right now online (in 4K as well!) ahead of the premiere of Season 2 on Prime Video.
Why a revolving door of showrunners?
Season 1, which first aired in April 2017, was well-received. So much so, that it was renewed a week after the first season wrapped. Preparations began for a follow-up season but in November 2017, American Gods showrunners Michael Green and Bryan Fuller left the show. At that point, half the scripts had been written but filming for American Gods Season 2 had not yet begun.
News outlets reported that the pair’s departure was due to disagreement with Fremantle Media over the show’s “budget and direction”. It appeared that Fremantle was concerned about the already big-budget series becoming wildly expensive (aka. well above the allotted $10 million USD per episode).
“They were not fired, nor did they quit…” Starz CEO Chris Albrecht told Entertainment Weekly. “There’s a very good relationship between Fremantle and Michael and Bryan. Everyone is trying to work this out to have this be a win-win for the people involved and the show itself.”
Who is the new American Gods showrunner?
Last February, Jesse Alexander officially replaced Green and Fuller as the new American Gods showrunner. Alexander was a great fit for the show, having previously worked on the likes of Lost and Alias. He had also worked with Fuller on various projects including Hannibal and Star Trek: Discovery. Neil Gaiman himself was very excited to have Alexander onboard.
“He loves and understands the book, he loves and understands the TV series and he’s dedicated to making future seasons of American Gods as good and as beautiful and as unique as they can be,” Gaiman told The Hollywood Reporter one year ago.
Alexander’s plan for American Gods Season 2 was a return to Gaiman’s source material. It would involve starting from scratch and replacing all the existing scripts.
“We needed to get back to the line in the book,” actor Ian McShane said during the Television Critics Association press tour. “Gaiman wrote a great blueprint for a TV series that can go wherever it wants as long as it remains true to the roots of faith.”
When does American Gods Season 2 air?
“It’s definitely taken a while to get season two out but it takes a while to get good [episodes]. I think we’d all rather have it good than have it quicker,” Gaiman told Variety.
Lucky for us, American Gods Series 2 will launch in the US on Starz on Sunday, March 10th, 2019.
It will air in the UK via Amazon Prime Video on Monday, March 11th.
How many episodes will there be?
Season 1 was originally commissioned at 10 episodes. During the production period, Fuller and Green decreased this to 8 for alleged structural issues. It seemed that episodes 4 and 5 weren’t standing on their own feet and that reshuffling the material into 8 episodes would work better.
Based on the latest on IMDB, it appears that Season 2 will be sticking with this 8-episode formula.
What is American Gods Season 2 about?
So far, we know that Season 2 will pick up thirty minutes after Season 1 left off, according to actress Emily Browning, who plays Laura (Shadow’s deceased wife) and will have a larger role in Season 2.
The official synopsis reads: In Season Two, the battle between Old Gods and New Gods continues to brew as we join Mr. Wednesday just a few short hours after his declaration of war and the epic showdown that ensued at Easter’s party.
While Mr. World (Crispin Glover, Alice In Wonderland) plans revenge for Wednesday’s attack, Mr. Wednesday continues his quest to pitch the case for war to the Old Gods with Shadow, Laura (Emily Browning, Sucker Punch) and Mad Sweeney (Pablo Schreiber, Orange is the New Black) in tow.
When things don’t go as planned after an encounter at the House on the Rock, both Old and New Gods, as well as those they meet along the way, find themselves on quests across America — all destined in some way for Cairo, Illinois. Shadow will begin to understand this strange world of the gods and carve out a place in it as a believer in order to survive. But change will require sacrifice.
According to RadioTimes, the first series has only gone through a fifth of the novel. The next sections of the book feature kidnappings, Shadow’s reinvention as Mike Ainsel, the mysterious disappearance of Mr. Wednesday, Mad Sweeney’s demise, and a whole bunch of Mr. Ibis and Mr. Jacquel. While we can expect some of these plot points to manifest in the second series, we can’t be certain of how closely American Gods Season 2 will follow the book.
Want to find out more about Season 2 of American Gods? www.UKAirDates.com will be attending an exclusive screening of American Gods Season 2 early next week and we will be sharing our review of the first few episodes of Series 2 of the show shortly. Make sure to like our Facebook to check out this review as soon as we post it on UK Air Dates.
Who is in the cast for Season 2?
Ricky Whittle (Hollyoaks) and Ian McShane (both in the centre booth) will be joined by a mix of new and familiar faces.
Returning are Emily Browning as Shadow’s dead wife Laura Moon and Pablo Schreiber as Mad Sweeney (both seated in the far right booth).
Additional cast members include Orlando Jones (Sleepy Hollow) as Mr. Nancy, Crispin Glover as Mr. World, Yetide Badaki (This Is Us) as Bilquis, Bruce Langley (Deadly Waters) as Tech Boy, Mousa Kraish (Transparent) as The Jinn, Omid Abtahi (Legends) as Salim, and Demore Barnes (12 Monkeys) as Mr. Ibis.
Guest stars include Cloris Leachman (Malcolm in The Middle) as Zorya Vechernyaya, Peter Stormare (Fargo) as Czernobog.
New to the series this season are Sakina Jaffrey (House of Cards) as Mama-Ji, Dean Winters (Divorce) as Mr. Town, Devery Jacobs (The Order) as Sam Black Crow and Kahyun Kim (Shameless) as New Media. Meaning, Gillian Anderson will not be returning as Media.
“I’m not doing any more American Gods,” she told the Hollywood Reporter last January.
Is there a trailer?
Yes! Earlier this year, we got our first glimpse of American Gods Season 2. Check it out —