The Starz adaptation of Neil Gaiman's American Gods finally has its lead character cast. Actor Ricky Whittle will take on the role of Shadow Moon in the network's television series.
Although Whittle has a decent list of credits on IMDB, he's probably best known in the U.S. as Lincoln on The CW's hit series The 100.
"I'm thrilled that Ricky has been cast as Shadow," said Gaiman in an email press release. "His auditions were remarkable. The process of taking a world out of the pages of a book, and putting it onto the screen has begun. American Gods is, at its heart, a book about immigrants, and it seems perfectly appropriate that Shadow will, like so much else, be coming to America. I'm delighted Ricky will get to embody Shadow. Now the fun starts."
Shadow is one of the main characters of American Gods, a mysterious convict who gets released from prison after his wife and best friend die in a car accident. He gets hired as a bodyguard by a con man, Mr. Wednesday, who seems to know Shadow better than he knows himself. As the two travel across the U.S., Shadow learns that his new boss is actually the god Odin, who is recruiting all the old gods to take on a battle against the new gods.
Gaiman also wrote a follow-up story, Anansi Boys, which Starz also has permission to use for its new show.
"We searched every continent and country and all the islands in between for our Shadow Moon, and we are lucky to have found Ricky," said showrunners Bryan Fuller and Michael Green. "Fans of the novel will find he has every bit of the heart of the character they fell in love with."
Starz first announced that it planned on developing American Gods last June. After the announcement, Gaiman stated that he was "thrilled, scared, delighted, nervous and a ball of glorious anticipation."
Gaiman isn't just the writer of the American Gods novel, though. He's also planning on writing several episodes for the television series.
Shooting for American Gods begins in April, so fans can expect more casting announcements to come soon.
