TV Preview 004 American Gods {Neil Gaiman}
American Gods (Starz) [Q1 2017]
Chance of Success = 85%
A pitch-perfect first look on the attempt to adapt the much revered Neil Gaiman novel by, striking a particular grim and otherworldly tone fitting to the writer's overall style and this is not surprising considering the showrunner, Bryan Fuller's previous effort, the atmospheric and stylish Hannibal. Not going with style over substance, the sneak peek gave enough of the overall somber tone without overpowering the personal yet massive story of the main protagonist who reluctantly went for a road trip in a realistic American setting with a huge dose of beliefs and spirituality.
With an ambitious plan to stretch the show far beyond the written words on the pages, using the mini-series medium as a stepping stone to expand the scope of the premise with the inclusion of more Gods in effort to transform the massive novel into multi-season long from story. There's even the possibility of spin-offs to explore lesser (but not necessarily less interesting) gods or deities, in the same veins of shared universe as Marvel Netflix shows, which is supported by Neil Gaiman himself who couldn't follow every character in the book within the constraint of following only Shadow's perspective and would like to see where everybody else would be
Casting to perfection which make sense with the original author himself was heavily involved in the process, the grimly charismatic Mr. Wednesday would be accompanied by the quietly stoic Shadow to meet the other old, forgotten Gods in an attempt to band together to fight in a war against the new, rising Gods. Since the limited point of view of only one character, Shadow, in the novel, constrained the author to only include stories surrounding him but in this adaptation, he is now free to include any other stories that he deemed fit to be added alongside Shadow's journey.
“Neil created this wonderfully stuffed toy box filled with all sorts of cultural points of view on how American operates as a system, and that was so fascinating and mythological in and of itself.” It’s really much more of an immigration story than it is a god story. One of the biggest challenges was stripping the idea of gods as X-Men or giant empowered creatures who stomp on cities and throw the oceans. We wanted them to be people with problems. It’s not about lightning bolts – it’s about the question of day-to-day survival.” ~ Michael Green, Co-Executive Produces
After garnering a huge following in its just over 15 years of publication, even the mention of the possibility of a book sequel(!) by Gaiman would single-handedly justify the creation of this show, with the immense amount of stories he just couldn't fit into his novel but maybe into the later seasons: specifically a Kitsune story set in a Japanese internment camp during World War 2 that he did months of research for.
These particular rendition of gods would only continue to live on if people keep specifically believing in them, with their own unique power to grow according to the number of their followers. Ditching the old and worn concept of giant beings in the clouds looking down on the mortals, they now look just like their believers, walking and living among humans on the surface of the Earth with the same everyday problems they have to face. Since the overall theme of wars between the old and the new gods, the former would range from ancient Egyptian deities (Thoth and Anubis) while the latter are more abstract and modern gods (Media and Technology).
By focusing on the road trip Shadow and Mr. Wednesday would take across America for the most of season one, it would all be about the journey and not the eventual destination, revolving around the newcomer's experience diving into this mythical world of gods and how the two distinct side would coerce him to side with them. The concept of the extraordinary nature of magic and fantasy in the current, normal American setting would be intriguing to see being portrayed on the small screen.
According to Neil, his own solitary journey through America was the main inspiration to this novel, revolving his writings around the local myths and folktales as well as the real world locations that he always described in wonderful details. This is why it was an exceptionally excellent move to actually film on locations at one of the more prominent places in the book, the House on the Rock.
~ Synopsis ~
A recently released ex-convict named Shadow meets a mysterious man who calls himself "Wednesday" and who knows more than he first seems to about Shadow's life and past.
Cast
Ricky Whittle - Shadow Moon
Ian Mcshane - Mr. Wednesday
Emily Browning - Laura Moon
Pablo Schreiber - Mad Sweeney
Bruce Langley - Technical Boy
Cloris Leachman - Zorya Vechernyaya
Peter Stormare - Czernobog
Yetide Badaki - Bilquis
Gillian Anderson - Media
Crispin Glover - Mr. World
...
+ Highlights: capable hands of showrunners, pitch-perfect first trailer, perfect casting with the more veteran and popular actors to lead and back up their juniors, a not well-known lead but perfect for the role (with Neil's own backing and his own dedication to add 30 pounds of muscle), additions off Anansi Boys to further flesh out the story and setting, one known real world American location, the inclusion of Bilquis' scarily erotic introduction,
-Lowlights: tricky material to properly adapt, the inevitable changes to the original concept due to much-needed updates or different takes,
Sources: Nerdist, ScreenRant
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