The first footage of Starz’s highly anticipated adaptation of “American Gods” was released during the show’s first Comic-Con panel in San Diego Friday.
The adaptation of the Neil Gaiman novel portrays a war between the old gods of biblical and mythological roots and a new group of gods “reflecting society’s modern love of money, technology, media, celebrity and drugs.”
Ricky Whittle stars as the protagonist, Shadow Moon, and during the panel the show added another cast member, Kristin Chenoweth as the goddess Easter.
The first footage is atmospheric, with just the subtlest hint of the supernatural and no mention of deities, but seems to perfectly capture the nature of the story. Whittle’s Shadow is seen getting out of jail just as he learns that his wife Laura (Emily Browning) is dead, and it’s not long before he’s picked up by the seemingly friendly Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane) for a mysterious task.
The rest of the cast includes Gillian Anderson, Orlando Jones, Jonathan Tucker and Pablo Schreiber. Michael Green and Bryan Fuller will act as showrunners and executive producers, while David Slade will direct.
“American Gods” is currently filming and will premiere on Starz in 2017.