Neil Gaiman’s 2001 novel American Gods has long been in development on cable television, first for several years at HBO, before moving on to development hell over the last few years at Starz. Well, there’s good news today for all you long-suffering Gaiman fans, as Starz has finally formally announced that American Gods has been greenlit, with production set to begin soon. Bryan Fuller, the man behind hit shows like Hannibal, Pushing Daisies, and Heroes, together with Michael Green, also from Heroes, will write and be showrunners on this series. Neil Gaiman will also executive produce.

For those of you who haven’t read the novel, American Gods centers around a war brewing between old and new gods; the traditional gods of biblical and mythological roots from around the world, who are now steadily losing believers to an upstart pantheon of gods reflecting society’s modern love of money, technology, media, celebrity, and drugs. The lead character, Shadow Moon, is an ex-con who becomes bodyguard and traveling partner to Mr. Wednesday. Mr. Wednesday is a con man who is in reality one of the older gods on a cross-country mission to gather his forces in preparation to battle the new deities.

Production will commence as soon as Shadow Moon is cast, and in this regard, Starz is looking for a little input from the fans. The producers are asking for fans of the novel to tweet @AmericanGodsSTZ and @STARZ_Channel using the hashtag #CastingShadow to share who they think should play the role of Shadow Moon on the news series. Between this news and the upcoming Sandman film from Joseph Gordon-Levitt, it’s a good time to be a Gaiman fan. If only we can get some news on Gaimain’s long-gestating movie version of The Graveyard Book… now that would be terrific.