Starz has made the decision to not move forward with a fourth season of American Gods. The series, based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, has been canceled by the cable network.
American Gods has had a bit of a troubled production from the start so it's not all too surprising that Starz has ultimately decided to cut ties with the series. The show premiered in April of 2017 and was developed by Bryan Fuller and Michael Green with an original cast that consisted of Ricky Whittle, Ian McShane, Orlando Jones, Emily Browning, Yetide Badaki, Bruce Langley, Crispin Glover, Kahyun Kim, Omid Abtahi, Mousa Kraish, and Pablo Schreiber. Fuller and Green departed from the show during pre-production on season 2 and were replaced by Jesse Alexander and Neil Gaiman. A series of behind-the-scenes issues pushed the show's season 2 return until 2019 and season 3 saw the removal of Schreiber, Kraish, and Jones from the show before it premiered in January of last year. Jones' departure was actually the most public of the bunch with the actor claiming that he was fired from the series because his character Mr. Nancy sent a "wrong message for black America." A network spokesperson had this to say about the show ending:
"Everyone at Starz is grateful to the dedicated cast and crew, and our partners at Fremantle who brought author and executive producer Neil Gaiman's ever-relevant story to life that speaks to the cultural climate of our country."
According to "Deadline", American Gods could possibly continue in some fashion. There are discussions taking place about wrapping up the show as either a TV movie or event series. The goal would be to align the show with Gaiman's 2001 novel so that it can have a proper ending. Standing in the way of that possibility is that American Gods has seen double-digit ratings declines from season to season so Starz would really need to determine if that avenue is actually worth it.
American Gods follows series lead Shadow Moon (Whittle), who meets a strange man named Mr. Wednesday (McShane) after being released from prison. Soon enough Shadow Moon becomes embroiled in a large-scale conflict between the Old Gods and the New Gods, who grow stronger each day.
Neil Gaiman will continue to stay busy because he's in the process of working with Netflix on the fantasy adaptation of his comic book series The Sandman. Gaiman also has Good Omens over on Amazon Prime Video. Series star, Ricky Whittle, took to Twitter to thank all involved with the process of creating American Gods and he seems to believe that they're all still committed to completing Gaiman's story on the small screen.
Are YOU sad to see American Gods end its run?