Nail Gaiman’s American Gods TV Series Picked Up by Starz

Last year, HBO broke the hearts of legions of speculative fiction devotees when it dropped its plans to adapt Neil Gaiman’s American Gods into a TV series. But thanks to a straight-to-series order from Starz, the warring deities that populate the beloved 2001 novel will soon be duking it out on the small screen.

The series, first optioned by HBO in 2011, boasts an impressive pedigree. Bryan Fuller, (“Hannibal” and “Pushing Daisies”) and Michael Green (“Gotham” and “Kings”) have both signed on as showrunners, while Neil Gaiman himself will executive produce.

Now that the green light has been relit, fans can begin squabbling over who should be tapped for the cast. The top priority is finding the man to play Shadow: the ex-con whose cross-country journey as bodyguard to an aged god is the novel’s main focus. Starz invites fans to weigh in on Twitter, via #CastingShadow. Says Starz CEO Chris Albrecht, “We hope to create a series that honors the book and does right by the fans, who have been casting it in their minds for years.”

With no premiere date yet announced, it’ll probably be a good chunk of time before the series debuts. But anything that causes Gaiman to describe himself as “a ball of glorious anticipation” must be worth getting excited over.

FIND US IN THE #BONEORCHARD @neilhimself @andmichaelgreen @AmericanGodsSTZ Illustration by #JimCarson #CastingShadowpic.twitter.com/CRvV5K4MZ7

 — @BryanFuller

UPDATE 6/29: Bryan Fuller has said that Neil Gaiman himself is going to be writing episodes of the show.