American Gods season 2 is in trouble. That’s not to say Starz isn’t powering forward to finish production on the turbulent season, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, showrunner Jesse Alexander has been sidelined…but not fired, which is basically a nice way of saying, “Hey, we don’t want the negative publicity of firing yet another showrunner, so could you please quietly sit in the corner with your hands in your lap. Thanks.” For the record, Alexander was brought on in February to replace then showrunners Michael Green and Bryan Fuller, so yes, there’s a pattern emerging.
If you’re unfamiliar, American Gods is a novel from author Neil Gaiman that tells the story of a man named Shadow who, as the story progresses, is revealed to have deep connections to the god, Odin. Gaiman expertly mixed Americana with fantasy and mythology in his novel, but season 1 of the show seemed to miss the mark a bit.
Perhaps that’s why Starz and Fremantle (the show’s studio) have rejected six drafts of the season 2 finale script. The need to get the second season right could be a driving point. The delay in giving the show’s cast — led by Ricky Whittle as Shadowmoon and Ian McShane as Mr. Wednesday — a script for the finale has production on season 2 set back approximately six weeks.
Also, there are problems with Starz and Fremantle simply not playing nice together, as the studio wanted to cut the budget on season 2, yet in the eleventh hour has decided to go on a spending spree just to wrap things up. It appears as if American Gods is being horribly mismanaged. THR’s sources confirm actors rewriting script pages as well, which can’t be good.
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In a statement, a spokesperson for Starz said: “American Gods has a deep and complex mythology and a unique visual style that makes this series one of the most ambitious productions on television, and one that we remain committed to delivering for our audience. We are confident that when the fans get their first look at season two in just a few weeks at New York Comic-Con, they will agree it was worth the wait.”
Just saw a trailer for American Gods Season 2. It's glorious. Exciting, strange, sexy, funny and very very weird. No, I don't know when the trailer gets released to the world. But they showed it to me.
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) September 7, 2018
The fact that Starz is going to reveal a trailer for American Gods at New York City Comic Con in less than a month from now (October 4-7) comes as a bit of a shock, amid all this news of the trouble the show is embroiled in. For its part, Fremantle is backing Starz on the marketing for the show, as it too released a statement.
"We stand by our network partner’s statement and share in their confidence that season two will exceed expectations. Our cast and crew are extremely passionate about the show and have delivered something that remains loyal to the source material and true to the creative vision of Neil Gaiman. We think fans will feel the same when we share a first look at New York Comic-Con in a few weeks."
I guess we’ll see how it actually looks in just a few short weeks. Season 2 of American Gods isn’t set to make its debut until 2019.
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