American Gods Renewed For Second Season At Starz

The Gods Get To Stay On Earth A Little Longer

♦Starz’ American Gods, based on the book by Neil Gaiman and developed for TV by Bryan Fuller and Michael Green, has just been reupped for a second season and The Hollywood Reporter had all the details…

Starz is bringing back American Gods.

The pay cabler has handed out a season two renewal to the fantasy series, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

An episode count for the second season is not known as yet.

Based on Neil Gaiman’s 2001 novel of the same name, American Gods centers on a war brewing between old and new gods: the traditional gods of biblical and 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 (The 100‘s Ricky Whittle), is an ex-con who becomes bodyguard and traveling partner to Mr. Wednesday (Deadwood‘s Ian McShane), a con-man but in reality one of the older gods, on a cross-country mission to gather his forces in preparation for a battle with the new deities.

Bryan Fuller (Hannibal) and Michael Green (Heroes) serve as co-showrunners on the series and executive produce with Gaiman, Adam Kane, director David Slade and FremantleMedia North America’s Craig Cegielski and Stefanie Berk. FremantleMedia North America produces the show.

The renewal comes just two episodes into the show’s freshman run. Starz notes that the series premiere drew nearly 1.6 million viewers with seven days of delayed viewing factored in.

“American Gods has been a ground-breaking series born out of belief and it’s thrilling to be partnered with Starz to continue this ambitious story. Neil Gaiman, Bryan Fuller and Michael Green have ignited a conversation through cinematic magic, presented through a diverse ensemble of actors that continue to keep us engaged and inspired,” said Cegielski.

In addition to prolific auspices in Fuller and Green, the drama’s large ensemble also includes Emmy winner Kristin Chenoweth, Gillian Anderson and Oscar winner Cloris Leachman.

American Gods’ path to the small screen was a windy one. The adaptation was originally set up at HBO in 2011 with Tom Hanks’ Playtone banner attached. However, HBO ultimately passed on the drama before Starz and Fuller came onboard in 2014. The project received a series order the following year.

American Gods Renewal Starz The Hollywood Reporter