Fans of Neil Gaiman are beside themselves these days as casting announcements and general gossip about the long-awaited adaptation of American Gods hit the internet. Never fear though! Gossip this is not. In an exclusive reveal to Entertainment Weekly, Starz has given the internet the very first look at American Gods‘ protagonist and his (spoiler for the uninitiated, though probably not for Nerdist readers) ghostly wife. Check out the gorgeous shot of Shadow and Laura below.
Here’s your first chance to see Ricky Whittle (The 100) as Shadow, the ex-con with a heart of gold at the center of the story, and Emily Browning (Sucker Punch, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events) as Laura, his dearly departed. As with the other character portraits we have seen, this scene gives us few details of the story but a lot of feelings about the production showrunner Bryan Fuller is putting together up in Toronto. Fuller worked with Michael Green to develop Gaiman’s 2001 novel.
I’m not going to reveal any more details behind the scene in question as I want to make sure not to spoil anything for those of you who haven’t yet read the book. As someone who is currently deep into a reread in anticipation of the new show, this scene is making a lot of the worries I have about any adaptation go away. They started to fade as I read more and mroe casting announcements that so beautifully aligned with Gaiman’s descriptions, and have only continued to do so. This lovely moment between Shadow and Laura just furthers the trend.
As San Diego Comic-Con and our very own Camp Conival with Geek & Sundry get underway this week, make sure you’re on the lookout for anymore announcements from Starz and the show’s team. If you’re at the convention yourself, make sure to stop by our exclusive talk with the cast of American Gods on Friday at 11:45am on the main stage. You can also catch Bryan Fuller at the Nerdist TV Panel in Room 6A on Thursday at 5:30pm. We can’t wait to hear what they have to tell us about the hotly anticipated show. It is set to premiere in 2017.
Image: Entertainment Weekly/Jan Thijs
