Starz orders a third season of American Gods with new showrunner

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

It took over a year and a half to get the second season of their series American Gods to the screen, but Starz isn't wasting any time setting a third season in motion – they're not even waiting around to see what the ratings are going to be like on season 2. The first episode of season 2 aired on March 10th, and before the second episode aired yesterday Starz had already announced that they have renewed the show for a third season.

Another season of American Gods means the show is getting a new showrunner, as there have been a lot of issues behind the scenes. Season 1 showrunners Bryan Fuller and Michael Green left the show over creative and budgetary issues with production company Fremantle Media, then the working relationship with season 2 showrunner Jesse Alexander apparently collapsed during the making of this season's eight episodes.

So taking over the showrunner position on season 3 is Charles "Chic" Eglee, who has previously worked on Dark Angel, The Shield, Dexter, Hemlock Grove, and the first season of The Walking Dead.

American Gods is based on a novel written by Neil Gaiman, who had this to say about the season 3 order: 

I'm thrilled American Gods has been renewed for a third season, and even more thrilled that I'm getting to work on it with Chic Eglee. Chic is the best partner-in-crime. We’ve been working for weeks now on the shape of the season and I'm delighted that he gets to carry the American Gods torch on to glory. Thank you to Fremantle, Starz and Amazon for having faith in the series, to Bryan, Michael and Jesse for bringing it this far, to all the cast and crew, and most of all to the viewers. It's their love of the characters that took us to this point, and will take us on to the next chapter."

Carmi Zlotnick, president of programming for Starz, added:

With Chic at the helm, the invaluable insight and contributions of Neil Gaiman and the undeniable talent of this dedicated cast and crew, we know that the show will continue to deliver on the vision and promise laid out in the novel."

The cast of American Gods includes Ian McShane as Mr. Wednesday, Ricky Whittle as Shadow Moon, Emily Browning as Laura Moon, Crispin Glover as Mr. World, Bruce Langley as Technical Boy, Chris Obi as Anubis, Cloris Leachman as Zorya Vechernyaya, Demore Barnes as Mr. Ibis, Mousa Kraish as The Jinn, Omid Abtahi as Salim, Orlando Jones as Mr. Nancy, Pablo Schreiber as Mad Sweeney, Peter Stormare as Czernobog, Yetide Badaki as Bilquis, Kahyun Kim as Media, Dean Winters as Mr. Town, Devery Jacobs as Sam Black Crow, and Sakina Jaffrey as Mama-Ji.

Season 2 is telling the following story: 

We were forged in God’s image, but the Gods are also made in ours — and in Season Two the battle moves inexorably toward crisis point as the destinies of gods and men collide. While Mr. World plots revenge for the attack against him in Season One, Shadow throws in his lot with Wednesday’s attempt to convince the Old Gods of the case for full-out war, with Laura and Mad Sweeney in tow. A council at the House on the Rock explodes into chaos, sending deities both Old and New on quests across America that will converge on Cairo, Illinois: forcing Shadow to carve out a place as a believer in this strange new world of living gods — a dark world where change demands commitment, and faith requires terrible sacrifice.

American Gods airs on Starz on Sunday nights.