Meet Mr. Nancy. He’s the African trickster god and one of the many, many deities lining the roster of American Gods, Starz’s live-action interpretation of Neil Gaiman’s celebrated fantasy tome.
Pitched as a fusion of Clash Of The Titans and The Grifters, the series largely revolves around Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle), an ex-con looking to make amends after being released from prison. Taken under the wing of Mr. Wednesday (Game of Thrones and John Wick alum Ian McShane), American Gods then follows our protagonist as he navigates the seemingly never-ending battle between gods old and new.
Mr. Nancy (AKA Anansi) hails from the older end of the spectrum, and is the only deity so far to warrant his own novel spinoff, Anansi Boys. Will the fan-favorite go on to headline a TV spinoff? It’s not off the table, according to actor Orlando Jones, who spoke with Vanity Fair in anticipation of American Gods descending onto the small screen late next month.
“Of course, I was thinking, Yeah, I don’t know if that’s gonna happen, but that would be completely awesome. Then somehow it actually ended up coming to fruition. I was amazed that the fans were pitching me to Neil without really caring what I thought, but I was super-excited about it.”
Jones is just one of many actors on board for Starz’s adaptation. Flanked by the aforementioned Whittle and McShane, he’ll be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Emily Browning (Laura Moon), Kristin Chenoweth (Easter), Pablo Schreiber (Mad Sweeney), and The X-Files star Gillian Anderson (Media), while there’s also some new additions to the fold, including Corbin Bernsen as the fiery Vulcan.
It’s been a long and meandering road to the small screen, but American Gods is now finally on the verge of release. April 30th is the date for your diaries, at which point Michael Green and Bryan Fuller’s adaptation will premiere via Starz.